


Lady Luck

by Cornerverse



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: A Pinch of Salt, Chloé and Adrien are actually written as friends, F/F, F/M, Kwami Swap, Pretty much every character in the series will show up eventually, Reverse Lovesquare, Swearing, and get to the rest when/if they become more important, but I'll tag all the classmates for now, ladybug!chloe, more of a Kwami Shuffle but you know, tags to be updated as characters/relationships are added, too many fma jokes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2020-07-23 20:57:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 76,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20014693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerverse/pseuds/Cornerverse
Summary: Lady Luck is the new Hero, chosen to fight alongside Chat Noir and save all of Paris from the evil Hawkmoth. Only problem? Lady Luck isn't the best person outside of the costume.Perhaps, through becoming a Hero and getting encoragement from some friends, she'll be able to fix that.-Basically an AU scenario of "What if Chloé was given the Ladybug Miraculous instead of Marinette?"





	1. Origins Part 1

**Author's Note:**

> Not how I expected to come back to writing Ladybug fic but it's my birthday so let's have some fun posting about my fave!!
> 
> Also, have a visual for Lady Luck: https://cornerverse.tumblr.com/post/186405816199/i-finished-this-early-so-have-some-ladybug-art

While Chloé was glad to have an excuse to leave school, she didn’t really believe there was a ‘rock monster’ attacking the city.

At least, that was until she turned on the tv in her room.

“Huh,” she said, watching the broadcast. “Super villain. Right. Weird.”

She kept the tv on and tuned to that. Honestly she didn’t care much. But considering the news was showing her dad’s announcements about the situation, she wanted to keep an eye on him. Make sure he was out of danger.

However, her attention was grabbed by a small box on her bed. That was odd. She definitely hadn’t bought it, and usually any gifts from her dad were presented in-person.

For a moment she glanced at the windows, but the idea of someone sneaking up here to leave a gift was ridiculous. Partly because she lived at the top of a hotel that would be nearly impossible to scale. But also because, unlike Adrien, she didn’t have hordes of fans waiting to give her gifts.

Speaking of, she really needed to call him. He never showed up at school, so she guessed he got caught sneaking out.

She’d do that in a minute. First, she wanted to look at the box. It was small, red and black and octagonal. Pretty light. However, she noticed something strange. It seemed to be warm, almost causing a tingle in her fingertips.

Opening the box, she found a pair of earrings. They were cute. Little studs, red with five black spots. Not her usual style, but she could find an outfit to go with them.

When she went to pick them up, the earrings began to glow. Chloé dropped the box, moving back as something appeared.

There was a… creature… floating in front of her. It matched the earrings, being red with black spots. The thing was also tiny, about the size of a hamster. Bright blue eyes stared at her.

“Hi!” the creature greeted. “Please don’t freak out!”

That was not helpful. And Chloé was very close to telling the creature that when she glanced at the tv. A grin came to her face.

“Is some sort of magical superhero thing?!” Chloé asked, nearly vibrating in excitement.

“How do you know that?” the creature wondered.

“It’s a little obvious,” she said. “A Villain shows up, and then a Hero appears to stop them! So what’s the story? Secret space princess? Faerie Magic? Animal themes? God powers? Manifestation of my hopes and dreams? There are so many shows like this.”

“I- what?” the creature shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t watch much television.”

“Of course not,” she laughed. “Magical beings don’t regularly watch tv. I’m sure we could catch you up on that. Adrien would be able to make a better recommendation list so-”

“No!” the creature exclaimed. “You can’t tell anyone!”

Chloé started to protest. Because how could she not tell Adrien? The boy she’s known since they were little?

But, with a sigh, she conceded. After all, secret identities were also a trope of Superheroes.

“Fine,” Chloé agreed. “We should probably hurry through the ‘you tell me how to do this’ thing since there’s a rock monster currently destroying the city.”

“Right,” the creature said, glancing at the tv. “Okay, let’s start over. My name is Tikki.”

Chloé stopped and listened. It was a rushed explanation, but she seemed to hit all the points. Jewelry called ‘Miraculous’. This was the Ladybug with the powers of Luck and Creation. The Villain had the Butterfly, which could turn regular people into monsters by sending an ‘Akuma’ to possess an item of theirs. Break the item, release the Akuma, and back to normal.

The transformation had a time limit. After she used her ‘Lucky Charm’ ability, she’d have five minutes before she detransforms. Seems pretty straightforward. She picked up the earrings and put them on.

“Okay,” Chloé said, taking a deep breath. “How do I transform?”

“Say ‘Tikki, Spots On!’,” Tikki answered.

“Great, a pun, Adrien would love you,” she rolled her eyes. “Tikki! Spots On!”

She’d always wondered how Magical Girl transformations worked. It felt somehow instant, but also like it took a minute. Energy washing over her, within her. Warm and soft, but somehow invigorating.

“So, Tikki, how do I look?” Chloé asked, striking a pose.

She looked around, but didn’t find the Kwami anywhere. Right. She’d said something about disappearing into the Miraculous. Chloé decided to check the mirror in her room instead. And honestly? She liked it.

It was black and red, of course. The main part of her outfit was a black tanktop and pants. Over top of that, she had a red jacket with black spots. That had a high collar, and the ‘tail’ hung down in a way that reminded her of Ladybug wings. She also had fingerless black gloves, which was an odd choice, and knee-high red and black spotted boots with a short heel.

Despite her knowledge of clothing, she couldn’t really guess the material. Perhaps it was just ‘solidified magic’ instead of an actual fabric. It felt soft and flexible, but far more sturdy than it looked.

As for other accessories, there was a thick black belt around her waist, with her yoyo attached to it. She also had a red domino mask with black spots, of course. Her hairtie had also turned red.

There was one thing that bothered her about the outfit. Her makeup no longer matched. Eyeing her vanity table, she quickly snagged a darker shade. There. Perfect.

Well, almost. Maybe it was just because she was looking at herself, but she still looked like, well, herself. The small mask did little to hide her identity. And if she was doing this, then she was going to do this right.

There wasn’t really much she could do though. She decided a quick change in hairstyle would help. At least throw off anyone who knows her usual ponytail. Remembering that she should probably hurry, she went for just a braid instead.

“There,” Chloé nodded, giving one last look in the mirror. “Now, how do I do this without dying?”

She walked out onto her balcony, eyeing the height. Oh boy. Suddenly a yoyo did not seem like the best mode of transportation.

No. She could do this. She already went through a full Magical Girl Transformation. It wasn’t about trusting a yoyo. It was about trusting a magic yoyo. One that probably couldn’t break.

She took the yoyo off her belt, feeling its weight as she swung its cord. After a moment, she tossed it to the building across from her. That hit was too good to be just luck. It had to have some sort of self-guiding aspect to it.

Giving a solid tug, she found it was sticking well. She stepped up on the railing, making sure her grip was solid.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped off.

The free-fall was terrifying. Chloé gripped tighter, trying not to think of what would happen if this failed. She forced herself to keep her eyes open, even though she wanted to close them.

After what felt like an eternity, she hit the building across from her. It hurt a bit, since she was slamming into a wall, but not nearly as much as she thought it should’ve. Right as she debated about how to climb up, the cord seemed to retract on it’s own. Soon enough, she found herself climbing ontop of the roof.

“Okay,” Chloé breathed. “That wasn’t so bad. One down, who knows how many to go.”

Climbing up one building at a time was too time consuming. Yet she really wasn’t looking forward to her next idea.

Still, this time, she threw her yoyo at a flagpole sticking out of a building. She stepped off the roof, swinging down.

It scared her when she felt the yoyo let go of the flagpole and retract. She’d expected it, but it still made her stomach flip. Reigning in her panic, she threw the yoyo again, finding another roof to hook on to and swinging again.

An intoxicating amount of exhilaration kicked in, and she found herself grinning like mad. She tried again, and again. And just as she was getting the hang of it, she crashed into someone.

Before she could really think to ask who else was up on the rooftops, she and the other person went tumbling in the cord. Eventually it snapped tight, tangling them upside down and hanging a few feet off the ground.

“Well hey there,” the other person said. “Nice of you to drop in.”

“Oh my god Adrien you and your dumb puns,” Chloé groaned. “I swear I-”

She stopped, letting go of the yoyo and dropping them both to the ground. This was bad. She wasn’t supposed to tell him about the Superhero thing. An excuse was already running through her head. She’d go all ‘Sorry about that Citizen!’ on him. And if he questioned how she knew his name, well, he was decently famous.

But when she pulled herself up and looked at him, her words died in her mouth.

It was definitely Adrien. Even if he’d hidden his face behind a mask and wild hair, she knew him well enough. Especially after the pun had given him away. But she was more concerned with the rest of his outfit, which could only be really described as a black leather catsuit.

“What the fuck are you wearing?!” Chloé demanded.

“What the fuck am I wearing?!” Adrien gasped, almost actually offended. “The fuck are you wearing?!”

“I have a perfectly reasonable explanation that-” she paused as a few pieces clicked into place. “Oh. Let me guess. Your explanation is the same as mine. Magic jewelry that makes you a Superhero?”

“Oh,” he said. “You know, the Kwami did mention a partner.”

“This is perfect!” she exclaimed, hugging him with one arm while she gestured with the other. “Of course we’d be chosen as Heroes! And now, we get to save the day! We’re going to be great! People are going to love us!”

“Never thought you’d be so into the ‘magical girl’ thing,” he teased.

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes. “You’re such a weeb.”

“Sure, I’m the weeb,” he said. “Blonde hair in a braid while wearing a red and black outfit doesn’t scream ‘I’ve watched too much Fullmetal Alchemist’ at all!”

“Shut up,” she huffed, shoving him away. “At least I’m not going superheroing in my goddaamn fursona!”

He started to protest, but was cut off by a tremor shaking everything around them. Looking over, they saw a building crumbling to the ground.

“Let’s save this for after we save the day,” Adrien said, already running toward the damage.

“Whatever you say, Adrikitty,” Chloé replied, sprinting after him.

“Oh my god no,” he groaned.

When they arrived at the field, the monster was chasing someone. Chloé looked closer and found that the person being chased was Kim. Huh. Now that she thought about it, ‘Stoneheart’ did sound a bit like Ivan.

“Hey!” Adrien shouted, blocking Stoneheart with his baton. “It’s not very nice to pick on people who are smaller than you!”

“I guess you’re talking about yourself!” Stoneheart growled back.

“He’s got you there,” Chloé said.

“I’m taller than you!” Adrien complained.

Both of them dodged Stoneheart’s attacks. Chloé looked for an opening, though she wasn’t sure how much damage a yoyo could do against rock. Plus she was worried about him catching it and pulling her in.

Adrien found one first, jumping off Stoneheart’s fist and smacking his head with the baton. Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to have much of an effect. In fact, it made him grow bigger.

“That’s just not fair,” Chloé whined.

Stoneheart threw the goal net at them, which they easily dodged. A civilian at the edge of the field, however, didn’t seem to have nearly as quick reflexes. Luckily Adrien did, as he was able to throw his baton to block the net.

Unluckily though, that left him opened to being grabbed by Stoneheart.

Swearing under her breath, Chloé threw her yoyo around Stoneheart’s legs. A little Superhero strength, and she pulled him off balance, sending Adrien rolling away to the other goal. She sprinted after him, offering a hand up.

“Okay,” Adrein winced as he got up. “That was both more and less painful than I expected.”

“It looked painful,” Chloé said. “This is… dangerous. Guess you never think about how easily superheroes can get injured.”

“Time to try something else,” he said. “Think our powers could work? Apparently I destroy whatever I touch.”

“Don’t think you need a power for that,” she said. “Wait on that until we know what to destroy. I don’t think using it on him would be good for his health.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, keeping an eye on Stoneheart. “What can you do?”

“Haven’t tested it yet,” she said.

“Now’s a good time,” he said.

“Let’s try it out,” she said, raising a hand into the air. “Lucky Charm!”

A flash of light, and she was holding a comically large feather. It was also red with black spots. Adrien sneezed, proving that the feather was real enough. A beep in her ear reminded her about the time limit.

“Damn allergies,” Adrien said, covering his nose and backing up. “If your power is making feathers, I might need a new partner.”

“Huh,” Chloé said, looking between the feather and Stoneheart. “Think a rock is ticklish?”

“Maybe?” he said. “How will that help?”

“Didn’t your Kwami tell you about the butterfly?” she asked.

“I might’ve been a bit too excited to get to the Hero part,” he shrugged.

“Of course,” she sighed. “My Kwami said there’s a butterfly hiding in an object of his. He doesn’t seem to have anything on him, being rock and all. I’m guessing he’s holding onto it though. Tickling him might make him drop whatever it is.”

“I’ll distract him,” he said. “You use the feather.”

“Good plan,” she said.

“Alright!” he shouted, running back into battle. “Time to rumble, soon-to-be-rubble!”

She rolled her eyes at that. It was probably karma for the ‘Adrikitty’ joke earlier. Although, dumb one-liners kind of comes with being a Hero. Shrugging, she followed him.

Chloé made sure to stay behind Stoneheart. Adrien was pretty good at running around or back and forth. The hard part was telegraphing which way he’d go to let her stay behind Stoneheart without telegraphing his movements to Stoneheart himself.

Finally she was close enough, reaching out with the feather and brushing it along Stoneheart’s side. Rocks must be ticklish, since he jerked and laughed involuntarily before making a swipe at her.

Too close to get out of the way, she found herself in Stoneheart’s grip. Now she knew what Adrien meant about it hurting. She was sure that the pressure would’ve caused anyone else a lot of pain, and only the Magic of her transformation kept her safe. And even that wasn’t quite enough to stop the ache in her ribs.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the plan had worked. Something small had fallen from Stoneheart’s hand, and Adrien was already in the process of stomping on it.

As the butterfly flew away, she was dropped to the ground. The rocks dissolved into purple mist, and left Ivan in it’s place.

“You okay?” Adrien asked, offering Chloé a hand up.

“Absolutely!” Chloé exclaimed, ignoring how breathless she sounded. “That was amazing! Incredible!”

“It was pretty ‘miraculous’,” he joked.

“I don’t even care that that was a pun!” she said, hugging him. “That was fantastic! I was fantastic!”

They were interrupted by Ivan getting up and wondering where he was. While Adrien went to check on him, Chloé picked up the item he’d dropped. It was a piece of paper.

“A note?” Chloé wondered, reading the paper. “’You haven’t even got the guts to tell Mylène you love her, wuss.’.”

“Kim wrote it,” Ivan said. “He’s always making fun of me.”

“Isn’t he supposed to be your friend,” she huffed.

“What?” he wondered.

“I think what she means,” Adrien began, “Is that we were wondering if this is a friend or a bully.”

“Kim’s a friend,” Ivan said. “He just… sometimes goes too far.”

“If he’s your friend, you can talk to him,” he said. “Sounds like he was trying to encourage you with some tough love. But it went too far. Maybe ask him to scale it back next time?”

“And you should ask Mylène out,” Chloé said, handing him the note. “Come on, Ivan. We live in a world of Magic, Heroes and Supervillains. It's utterly ridiculous to let a bit of anxiety get in the way of asking out a girl!”

“See what I mean?” Adrein sighed, gesturing at her.

“Shut up,” she huffed.

“Hey,” Ivan frowned. “How did you know my name, miss?”

While Chloé tried to find a way to lie her way out of that, and curse herself for screwing up the secret identity thing again, she found a distraction in the form of a girl running up to them.

It was that new girl from class. What was her name? Allie? Alya. That was it. She was holding her phone, still recording. Chloé wanted to glare at her, tell her to leave. But, the way Alya was looking at her. It was so different from before.

Back in class, Alya’s gaze held nothing but contempt and hatred toward her. Understandable, of course. Chloé was well aware of how terrible she was.

But here, Alya was grinning, excited, almost enraptured. Because she didn’t see Chloé, just the Superhero who had saved the day. And that was… nice. She couldn’t help herself from soaking in the attention.

“Uncanny, amazing, spectacular!” Alya exclaimed, holding the camera up to them. “Are you going to be protecting Paris from now on? How did you get your powers? Oh I’ve got a ton of questions to ask you, uh… Let’s start with what we should call you!”

“Good question,” Adrien said, giving the camera his best model smile. “Call me Chat Noir!”

“Nice,” Alya said. “Simple, elegant, and a bit mysterious. What about you?”

Chloé thought for a minute. She could go Adrien’s route, a simple ‘Ladybug’. But she never did like being simple. It was always go big or go home. She had to do more.

“Lady Luck,” Chloé said. “I’m Lady Luck.”

Alya had another question lined up, but Chloé didn’t hear it over the beep of her earrings. She wasn’t sure how many minutes had passed, but she was very quickly running out of time.

“Sorry, to cut this short!” Chloé said, grabbing Adrien’s arm. “But as much as I’d love to do an interview, we have to be going. Hero stuff, you know? I’m sure we’ll see one another eventually, and we can do an interview then!”

“Promise me you’ll let me interview you first to make up for it!” Alya said.

“Of course, miss!” Adrien shouted as Chloé dragged him off.

Great. As much as she liked the attention from Alya, Chloé would’ve preferred something a bit bigger. Like an actual news station instead of some teenager with a cameraphone.

But Adrien promised. And if she broke that, then he’d get upset. Damn him for being all nice and sweet.

After using her yoyo to pull them onto the roof, she let go of Adrien.

“Hey, how many spots are left on my earrings?” Chloé asked, brushing her hair out of the way.

“Three, why?” Adrien wondered.

“Damn.” she muttered. “Stupid time limits.”

“Time what now?” he asked.

“You really need to listen to instructions,” she said. “After using our power, the transformation times out. I should still be able to get home. And I suggest you go home too before your father freaks out.”

“Right,” he sighed. “Ugh. Can’t I just tell him I went to your place?”

“Considering you didn’t show up at school,” she said, “I’m guessing he’s mad enough at you already.”

“Most parents would love a kid so desperate to go to school,” he said.

“Sure,” she said. “And most teenagers don’t kick off their teen rebellion phase by trying to go to school and becoming a superhero. Seriously. You should, like, get a piercing or something.”

“Let’s focus on school and being a hero,” he said.

Another beep from her earrings, and Chloé decided she had to get home. Thankfully there weren’t any more Heroes running across rooftops to run into as she swung her way home.

She made it to her balcony with less than a minute to spare. The transformation wore off as she flopped on the bed. Without the magic running through her, exhaustion hit her like a truck. Or like a rock crushing your ribs. She looked up at Tikki, who had finally reappeared.

“You look tired,” Chloé said.

“A bit,” Tikki answered. “I need to recharge.”

“Would a nap work?” she wondered. “Because I feel like taking a nap.”

“It can help,” she giggled. “But food works a bit better. I like sugary things. Cookies are best.”

Chloé reluctantly got up and walked over to where she left her phone. A quick text to the hotel’s room service, and cookies would be up in a minute.

While she waited for that, she looked to the tv. The news was still playing, though the report was now about the Heroes. It was surreal to see the footage of herself, of Lady Luck. Yet she loved it. Comments were going wild, loving her.

She had to laugh a little when her dad came on screen, saying how the city would organize a celebration for its new protectors. Even if he didn’t know she was Lady Luck, he was still throwing a party for her.

After making sure Tikki got her cookies, Chloé decided to take a bath. She was covered in sweat from swinging around the city. Not to mention sore from that and the fight. Hot, soapy water was just the thing she needed to soothe her muscles.

As much as she’d wanted to stay in there for hours, Chloé did eventually get hungry. Another text to room service, and she’d have something delivered.

While she waited, she looked through her closet. She felt like she should have a new outfit to go along with the whole ‘becoming a Superhero’ thing. Maybe something that mirrors her costume a bit. Even though that kinda defeated the point of secret identities. She’d be subtle. Kinda. Maybe.

Hm. She had a black jacket that was kind of like the one she had as Lady Luck, though with a much shorter ‘tail’. Black pants were easy, though maybe she should go with a white top instead. She’d keep her flats though. Those were important.

“You might want to get in here!” Tikki called from the other room.

Chloé walked over, seeing that Tikki was still watching the news. The images on screen showed several copies of Stoneheart around the city.

“Just as Paris is about to celebrate the appearance of our two new Superheroes,” the reporter announced, “a new wave of panic is sweeping across the capital as dozens of people are mysteriously transformed into stone monsters. It’s simply unbelievable!”

Fear and panic hit her.

“What’s going on?” Chloé asked.

“Did you capture the butterfly?” Tikki asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” she demanded.

“An Akuma can multiply,” she explained. “That’s why it must be captured. If Ivan’s emotions become negative again, then the Akuma will turn him back into Stoneheart! He’ll control all the stone beings and bring them to life to serve as his army!”

“Why...” she swallowed, staring at the number of stone beings on the screen. “Why didn’t you tell me about that?”

“I thought I did?” she said.

She said something else, but Chloé didn’t hear it. All she could hear was her mother, what she would say if she knew. It made her head spin, and she felt like she was going to be sick. She wasn’t sure she was breathing.

This wasn’t fair. How was she supposed to be good at something if the rules changed? It reminded her of so many tasks before. Every attempt she made. Her mother changing the rules, so that it was never enough. Why was it never enough?

Chloé’s hands trembled as she reached up to her ears. Whatever calm words Tikki had been saying were cut off as she removed the Miraculous.


	2. Origins Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're back baby! Also, the fun part of writing for two fandoms at once is that sometimes you write similar themes. See if you can find one of the main themes from my other fics in this.

Everyone in her class was talking about Lady Luck. They all loved her. They believed she would come back and save them. That girl, Alya, had even put together a blog dedicated to the heroes. The ‘Luckyblog’, she called it.

Part of Chloé loved it. After all, they loved her. And yet… with how she’d messed it up, with how she knew she would mess up more. If she continued to be Lady Luck, they’d eventually hate her as well.

Thinking about it all, her purse felt heavy. As much as she was furious at the situation, at the setup of being unable to catch the Butterfly, she couldn’t bring herself to leave the Miraculous in her room. Because that’s what she did. She’d get upset and whine about it being unfair, but eventually she’d come back.

Waving off Sabrina’s attempts to ask if she was okay, even her attempts to ask about her new outfit, Chloé focused on eavesdropping. The rest of the class was surrounding Ivan, asking about being Akumatized.

“So you really don’t remember anything?” Alix asked.

“You were totally going ballistic!” Juleka said. “It was so cool!”

“You were seriously out to crush me, dude!” Kim huffed.

“I’m sorry,” Ivan said. “I wasn’t myself.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Chloé butted in. “He pissed you off. Oh, sure. We can blame the supervillain for the whole rock monster thing, but Kim was the one who decided to be a jackass in the first place.”

And…. Everyone was glaring at her. Ivan even got up and left. She just rolled her eyes. Whatever. She had a point. It was just a point they didn’t like.

* * *

Chloé felt… well, not exactly ‘guilty’. Conflicted was a bit better. She’d been happy to have Adrien finally show up! But now, after the thing with putting gum on Marinette’s seat, she was beginning to regret helping him.

The whole incident had upset him. While he’d known she wasn’t the best person, he didn’t know everything. And this would probably all come out soon enough.

But it upset her more to see them talking about him. Assuming things about Adrien, just because he was nice to her. Assuming he was in on the gum incident. Calling him ‘daddy’s boy’. Writing him off as just as bad as she was.

And the one boy who did believe that Adrien might not be that bad? Immediately told him to ‘make new friends’, with the obvious implication of ‘new’ being ‘better’. Replacing her.

It might not be true guilt, but it hit hard enough. And she wasn’t entirely sure what to do about it. Even if she could change her entire personality and be all nice and sweet, no one would believe her due to her reputation. No one would care.

Perhaps she should cut her losses. Get the two of them enrolled in a different school. Find a fresh start. Bring Sabrina too, while she’s at it. Leaving her here would be throwing her to the wolves.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she felt a tremor through the hallways. Instinct had her diving under her desk just as Stoneheart burst through the wall.

Hands shaking, she listened as everyone else screamed. Despite the urge to scream as well, or use her phone to call for help, she stayed quiet. She couldn’t risk being found.

Waiting was agonizing. This guilt was worse than before. Chloé could handle people being upset because she was mean to them. But this? They could get hurt. Sabrina’s dad already broke his arm. As much as she didn’t like her classmates, she didn’t want them to be hurt. Especially not because she should’ve stopped it.

She only stood up when it was quiet. Everyone else had run out of the room. Even Adrien, though she knew he was running toward the fight instead of trying to hide. Determination building in her, she took the box out of her bag.

The moment she picked up the earrings again, Tikki reappeared in a glow.

“Look,” Chloé said, putting the earrings on. “I know I’m not your favorite person right now, but Adrien ran out there and like hell am I letting him do this alone.”

“I’m sorry,” Tikki said.

“Yeah, well I-” she paused, looking at the Kwami. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” she repeated. “I should’ve told you about purifying the butterfly. I was trying to rush the explanation, and figured I could tell you about the Miraculous Cure ability after the fight when we had more time, but since purifying the Butterfly is part of that, I ended up skipping both.”

Chloé tried to find a response. Really, she tried to think of the last time someone genuinely apologized to her. Adrien did. Sabrina would, sometimes. But more often than not, she didn’t get one.

Of course she was aware that there were times where she probably didn’t deserve one. But when she did, it still took threats to get it. Her reputation alone made people believe that she could never be right, could never be hurt. And even worse were the few who gave passive aggressive apologies. ‘I’m sorry you got upset’. Still better than the one who would never apologize, and couldn't be forced to.

“It’s okay,” Chloé said. “After this, you can find someone else to be a Hero. Someone better.”

“You don’t have to quit,” Tikki said. “Even if I had told you everything, it was your first time. It’s okay if you’re not perfect.”

“That’s not why,” she said. “I’m telling you to find someone else because I’m not a Hero. Heroes are supposed to be, you know, heroic. Kind. But me? I’m the selfish spoiled brat. And I know it. As much as I’d love to be a Hero, I’m not. It’s not the ‘trope’ for me. You should go to any of my classmates. I bet you’d love Marinette. Only thing I’ll really compliment her on is her family’s bakery.”

“I almost did,” she said.

“What?” she wondered.

“There are a few candidates for getting a Miraculous,” she explained. “All of your classmates were good options. But for the Ladybug in particular, we’d narrowed it down to you and Marinette.”

“Why choose me then?” she asked. “Hell, why was I even an option?”

“You seemed like you needed it more,” she answered.

When Chloé only stared at her, Tikki gave a soft smile. The creature floated close, hugging her cheek.

“My Ladybugs share many traits,” Tikki said. “They are determined, good at thinking on their feet, and make good leaders. But above all, they care about people.”

“I don’t, really,” Chloé said. “I kind of hate everyone.”

“You are fiercely protective of those you care for,” she corrected. “And even those you don’t, even people you hate, you still would protect if they were threatened, wouldn’t you?”

She wanted to deny that. Yet… when Stoneheart broke through the wall just now, if she hadn’t been so upset about failing before, she might’ve transformed into Lady Luck on the spot.

It was strange and contradictory. She knew that. As much as she could insult them, as terrible as she could be, the idea of them getting physically harmed filled her with rage. Still, old lessons pushed that down. They weren’t worth it. She shouldn’t even remember their names.

But every time, she still remembered. And perhaps that wasn't much to some people, but to her, it meant something.

“You still didn’t say why you chose me over her,” Chloé said, looking away.

“Because you needed it more,” Tikki said. “As the Kwami of Creation, my favorite Ladybugs are the ones I have to help create. Ones who don’t start as a Hero. Marinette only needs a small push, something that could come from anywhere. But for you, being a Hero could help you truly shine.”

“So I’m the bigger project,” she said.

“Not in a bad way,” she said. “You’re exceptional. You care far more than you let on, and I have a feeling I know exactly why you hide it. But you don’t have to. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone, even me. You just have to be you. Perfect or not.”

Her hands clenched into fists. That word made her wonder how much Tikki knew, but the rest of her statement told her that she didn’t.

“Whatever,” Chloé said. “For now, I need to help Adrien. How do I do the thing with the Butterfly?”

“You need to grab it with your yoyo,” Tikki said. “After that, you can use the Miraculous Cure by throwing the Lucky Charm in the air and shouting ‘Miraculous Ladybug’.”

“What does that do?” she asked.

“It reverses damage caused by the fight,” she said. “Collapsed buildings, broken items-”

“Injuries?” she wondered.

“Yes, that too,” she said, frowning at her. “Did you get injured last time?”

“No,” she said, ignoring the fact that she’d been aching all morning. “Sabrina’s dad broke his arm in the attack. He’s a cop so he was right in the middle of everything.”

“Okay,” she said, giving her a look like she knew it was a lie. “But yes, that will be fixed. You should deal with the Akuma first.”

“Anything else I need to know this time?” she asked.

“Not this time, no,” she answered.

“Good,” she said. “Tikki, Spots On!”

Lady Luck stretched as the magic washed over her. Though she winced a little at the pain, her transformation quickly suppressed that. She was surprised to find that her hair had automatically gone back to its braid from yesterday. Interesting. She’d have to test that out later.

For now, she took a running leap out of the hole in the wall. It was easy to follow the screams. Stone beings wandered everywhere. And Lady Luck arrived just in time to see one grab her partner.

As she wondered why Chat didn’t just fight his way out, she saw two girls. Alya, trapped between a wall and thrown car, with Marinette trying to get her out, using a pole as leverage. Wait, correction. She was using Chat’s baton as leverage.

Not bothering to contemplate how she got that, Lady Luck made a snap decision, running over and helping Marinette. Thank fuck for Superhero strength, because the two of them were able to move the car enough for Alya to wriggle out.

“Thanks,” both girls said, out of breath.

“You’re welcome,” Lady Luck said. “Now both of you, get somewhere safe.”

Grabbing the baton, she sprinted after Chat Noir. She threw her yoyo over and over, quickly catching up.

“Heads up, Chat!” Lady Luck shouted, tossing the baton to him.

He managed to catch it, extending the baton to free himself from the stone monsters’ grasp. Before it could grab him again, she hooked his leg with her yoyo and pulled him up to the roof.

“I feel like my world’s been turned upside down,” Chat quipped.

“Ugh,” Lady Luck groaned. “I hate you so much.”

“Nice to see you too, Lucky,” he grinned.

“Come on,” she said, already leaping to the next roof. “We need to get to the source of all this!”

He followed behind her, vaulting across the buildings just as fast as she swung by. Even from here she could see the largest Stoneheart climbing up the Eiffel Tower.

There were police everywhere. Officers, cars as barricades, helicopters, everything. Even Chloé’s dad was out there, shouting into a megaphone and trying to negotiate with Stoneheart.

The duo leaped over the barricades, right to the front lines. Officer Raincomprix was already shouting orders to prepare an attack.

“Are you crazy?” Lady Luck shouted at him. “You’re not going to do anything except get him and the hostage killed!”

“I have a new plan, unlike you!” Officer Raincomprix retorted. “Move aside and let the pros do their thing! You’ve already failed once!”

A phrase was on the tip of her tongue. Her dad was only a few feet away, and the urge to shout ‘Dad! Make him listen to me!’ was barely suppressed by the need to keep her secret identity. But without him….

The words were caught in her throat. As she stared, trying not to shake, she felt Chat’s hand on her shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Chat asked.

“What am I supposed to do?” Lady Luck whispered. “I can’t… I’m not anything.”

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, pulling her to face him.

“No, it’s not,” she shook her head. “Without my parents? I can’t do anything. Everything I’ve ever even tried to do has been because of their money and power. And right now? Lady Luck doesn’t have that luxury. I can’t even get one guy to listen to me. Because I already failed once.”

“You’re wrong,” he said. “You’re already great without them. Lady Luck is just your chance to prove it.”

“Are you really going to say that now?” she said. “After everything you heard at school this morning?”

“Yes,” he said. “Because I trust you. And even if I didn’t already, I saw you stop to save two classmates you claim not to care about instead of chasing me. So trust me when I tell you, you’re a Hero. You can do this.”

Before she could counter that argument, she heard a commotion behind her, several people screaming in fear again. She looked up and watched as Stoneheart coughed up a swarm of butterflies. Just the thought of that made her feel like coughing up some butterflies of her own.

Okay. No. Thinking about that was a bad idea. She refused to be the Superhero who threw up on camera.

As she swallowed down that disgusting thought, the butterflies formed together into something that looked very much like a face.

“People of Paris,” the face of butterflies shouted. “I am Hawkmoth.”

“Hawkmoth?” Chat parroted.

“Lady Luck, Chat Noir,” Hawkmoth addressed. “Give me the Ladybug earrings and the Cat ring now! You’ve done enough damage to these innocent people!”

Oh she was well aware of that. She knew how much she’d hurt people, both as Chloé and as the failure that was Lady Luck.

And yet, all his words did was fill her with rage. Every emotion she’d ever tried to push down came to the forefront.

“How dare you?!” Lady Luck shouted up at him. “I’m not going to even pretend I’m perfect, but at least I don’t threaten all of a city!”

She ran forward, leaping into the swarm. Her yoyo flying wildly, every single butterfly was captured.

As she looked down at the crowd, she saw the way they looked back. They were awestruck. Like one should be for a Hero. And like the Hero she wanted to be, she let herself soak in the feeling it gave her.

Right now, she was not Chloé Bourgeoisie. ‘Chloé’ was terrible. She didn’t care about anyone except for those close to her. She was a spoiled brat who couldn’t do anything without her parents’ money and power.

‘Lady Luck’ was the opposite. She was a Hero. She would let herself be everything that ‘Chloé’ wasn’t allowed to be. Caring, kind, hardworking. A Hero.

‘Chloé’ was selfish. She always was and always would be. ‘Lady Luck’, however, could be an entirely different kind of selfish. The kind that gives as much as she takes, without hesitation.

“I am Lady Luck!” she shouted. “Chat Noir and I will protect the people of this city! We will never give up, and we will never give in! No matter how many times you try to tear us down!”

Magic surged through her, concentrating in her yoyo. It opened, releasing a wave of white butterflies across the city.

She stood there, listening to the cheers from the people. That in itself was more of an electric feeling through her than the Magic had been. Warm and loving

Right when she thought it was over, there was another scream. Damn it. She was starting to get tired of that.

Stoneheart was on the move again, climbing up the tower. Chat had joined her, but the other stone beings weren’t far behind.

“We’re surrounded!” Chat exclaimed. “What do we do now? We can’t attack him!”

“Same as last time,” Lady Luck said. “Find the Akuma. But this time I know how to stop it for good!”

“It’s in his fist again,” he said. “The one he’s holding Mylene with.”

“And we know he’s in love with her,” she replied with a grin. “Up for some matchmaking?”

“Not really following you,” he said. “But here we go!”

They began the chase again, scaling the tower even faster. Lady Luck reached the top first, looking down at Stoneheart.

“Help!” Mylene shouted. “I’m scared of heights!”

“Don’t worry,” Lady Luck assured. “The heroes are here to help!”

“How are you planning on ‘matchmaking’?” Chat asked, dodging an attack from the other stone beings.

“Like this,” she replied, throwing her yoyo in the air. “Lucky Charm!”

Her magic solidified into a large fishing net. While she eyed the height of the tower, Chat was thrown by one of the stone beings. As he landed, she tossed him one end of the net.

“Get ready!” Lady Luck shouted.

Holding the net in one hand, she used the other to throw her yoyo around Stoneheart. She yanked hard, hooking his arm and pulling Mylene into his face. It wasn’t exactly a kiss, but it was enough to shock him, almost dropping her.

Chat jumped off, snatching the Akumatized paper out the air. The net caused him to swing back around to the top.

“Cataclysm!” Chat shouted.

Black energy surround his hand, causing the paper to disintegrate. A quick toss of her yoyo, and the Akuma was captured.

Both Heroes held tight to the net as Stoneheart turned back into Ivan. He and Mylene fell a few feet, quickly caught by the net. Once more, Lady Luck was thankful for her Superhero strength, as she was sure she and Chat couldn’t have held them without it.

They gently brought the pair up to the viewing platform. The minute all four were on solid ground, Mylene was hugging Lady Luck tight.

She found it strange, the way it almost made her melt. Mylene would never trust Chloé to keep her safe from heights. But Lady Luck? She was her hero, the one who had saved her life.

Hesitantly letting herself return the hug, or at least pat the girl on the head, she turned to the yoyo. It opened once more, and a small white butterfly flew away.

“See you around, little butterfly,” Lady Luck smiled. “Chat, can you help with the net?”

“Already on it,” Chat replied, handing her what he’d gathered.

“Thanks,” she said. “Mylene, can you let go for a minute?”

“Oh, sorry,” Mylene squeaked, stepping away.

“It’s okay,” she said. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

She threw the net into the air, releasing yet another burst of magic. As it washed over them, it did as promised and fixed everyone. The stone beings returned to normal, thankfully being brought safely to the ground. In the distance, she could see Oficer Raincomprix testing out his now unbroken arm, and the broken buildings reforming. She could even feel her own aches from earlier easing.

It was, well, Miraculous.

“I think this is for you,” Chat said, handing a piece of paper to Mylene.

“Oh,” Mylene said. “Actually that’s Ivan’s. He had it before...”

“It might be his, but I think it’s for you,” he said.

While Ivan was scared into speechlessness, Mylene read the note. A small smile played across her face.

“Is this that song from earlier?” Mylene asked. “It’s really beautiful. It’s a shame you can’t hear the lyrics when you scream. I mean, when you sing.”

“It was scary, wasn’t it?” Ivan asked. “Is that why you left? I’m sorry. I’ll be gentle.”

She hugged him, and the boy was so frozen in shock he could’ve been stone again and it would be hard to tell. Laughing at the fact that Ivan’s face was the same color as her outfit, Lady Luck leaned against Chat.

“Superheroes and matchmakers,” Lady Luck mused. “Seems like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

“Can’t wait,” Chat grinned, putting an arm over her shoulder. “You probably want to though, knowing how obnoxious I’ll be with puns.”

“Don’t make me regret this,” she sighed.

As both her earrings and his ring beeped, they realized they should head back. A few quick goodbyes and two heroes were running and leaping across rooftops.

She laughed, enjoying the last few minutes of freedom, racing Chat Noir through the city. It wouldn’t last. She had to go back.

As they neared the school, Lady Luck noticed something that had her pull Chat back by his tail. Belt? Whatever.

“Can you not?” Chat snapped, tugging his tail out of her hands.

“Nathalie and the Gorilla are waiting out front,” Lady Luck replied, pointing to the school. “You can’t go in that way. I mean we should probably not waltz back to class as Superheroes anyway, but you know.”

“Right,” he said, frowning at the pair standing guard on the steps. “You know a back way in?”

“Of course,” she said. “Follow me!”

She sprinted around the side, making a wide circle until they were behind the school. There was a sports field out back. Dropping down onto the grass, she ran across to the building.

“I was kidding about a literal back entrance,” Chat said. “Figured you’d go to the roof access or something.”

“I could’ve,” Lady Luck said, opening the door. “But it’s less suspicious to be seen coming out of a locker room.”

“For you maybe!” he exclaimed, backing up a step. “I can’t go in the girls’ locker room!”

“No one’s in here,” she said.

“I can’t be seen coming out of the girls’ locker room,” he corrected.

“Fine,” she shrugged. “Boys’ room is the next door down. Just go and detransform or whatever.”

She let the door close on him. After double checking to make sure she was right about the locker room being empty, she made extra sure to not be seen and jumped into one of the shower stalls.

Lady Luck only had a few more seconds, and then in a flash of light Chloé was back. She held out her hand to let Tikki rest as she reappeared.

“How’d it go?” Tikki asked.

“Better,” Chloé said. “A lot better. Everything’s back to normal. I’m sure the whole thing will be on tv all night, so I can show you then.”

“I’d love to see it,” she said.

“I think I was pretty great,” she said. “Are you going to be okay if I don’t get you something to eat immediately? I don’t have anything on me, and I don’t think I’ll have much of a chance to buy anything until lunchtime”

“I’ll be fine,” she yawned. “I’ll just take a nap until then. I can’t help you transform until I’m back to full power though.”

“Hopefully I won’t need it,” she said. “But I think from now on I’ll probably have to start carrying around some snacks.”

“Glad to see you changed your mind about giving up,” she said with a smile.

Before Chloé could backpedal on that, Tikki zipped into a pocket in her jacket. Rolling her eyes, she walked out of the shower and out into the hallway. There were a few students wandering around, along with teachers herding them back to class.

Just as the door closed behind her, an announcement was made that class would proceed as normal. Can’t let a Supervillain get in the way of the children’s quality education!

Adrien popped out of the boys’ locker room right after. Still riding the high from defeating Stoneheart, Chloé took his hand and dragged him through the halls and back to Miss Bustier’s classroom.

Sabrina was waiting outside the doorway. And she looked somewhere between concerned and annoyed. Though she quickly switched to relief when Chloé came into view.

“Where were you?” Sabrina asked. “I’ve been texting since you disappeared!”

“Locker room,” Chloé shrugged.

“Both of you?” she wondered, raising an eyebrow at Adrien.

“Er, no,” Adrien said, taking his hand back. “I mean, she was in the girls’ locker room. I was in the boys one.”

“And I left my phone in class,” Chloé said before Sabrina could ask. “You know. Didn’t really think to grab my purse before running out.”

“Fair point,” Sabrina agreed. “But we have a situation...”

With that, she gestured into the classroom. Barely a glance inside and Chloé could see what ‘the situation’ was. Marinette Dupain-Cheng. In her seat. Rolling her eyes, Chloé stomped into the room.

“You’re in the wrong seat,” Chloé said. “Go on, get lost!”

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing,” Marinette said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” she demanded.

“It means that I’m not putting up with your crap anymore!” she said, standing up. “We live in a world of Magic, Heroes, and Supervillains. So I’m not going to let a little bit of anxiety keep me from helping my friends stand up against you! So go on. Take your attitude and get lost!”

Chloé couldn’t even register that the rest of the class was cheering and laughing at that. Really even Marinette’s smug grin wasn’t really hitting her like it should. She wasn’t mad. It was more shock. Like something in her had decided to short circuit.

As she went back to the empty seat, all she could do was replay that in her head. Those were her words. Lady Luck’s words. What she’d said to Ivan yesterday.

Listening to the buzz of conversation afterward, she found that it was intentional. They loved Lady Luck. Saw her as an inspiration. Encouragement to stand up for one another.

She hated to admit that a part of her loved the irony of it. ‘Lady Luck’ had given them the inspiration to stand up to ‘Chloé’, yet both were the same person.

And as much as she wanted to be mad about it, to dig in her heels and fight back, be even worse, she couldn’t bring herself to. The way they talked about her, about Lady Luck, it made her feel a lot happier than she’d been in years.

So she’d let them have this. For now at least. It wasn’t too bad though. While she might not be sitting right behind Adrien, he was just across the aisle. This might actually be a little better. It wasn’t like they could talk in class, but from this angle she could see his face, have those little conversations in just expressions.

However, every time she looked over at him, he was looking behind him. At Marinette. At first she thought it might just be because she was the current interesting topic. Then she caught his eye as he turned back to the front. He just gave her this goofy grin.

Oh no. She’d seen that expression on him before. Usually it was just applied to fictional characters, but there had been once or twice where he’d talked about one of his model coworkers with that same dumb grin.

He had a crush. On Marinette of all people. The girl who currently hated him because she thought he was just like Chloé. Oh boy.

“Chloé, are you alright?” Miss Bustier asked.

“Yep,” Chloé said, from her sudden position of face down at her desk. “Absolutely peachy.”

After that, class went pretty smoothly until lunchtime. That was when Adrien was called out. Both of them knew exactly why. And even as she went to buy Tikki some cookies, Chloé was already thinking up a plan to get him back in class.

Her plans started with just trying again and hoping for the best. By the time lunch was over though, she’d escalated to ‘have Lady Luck convince Gabriel Agreste that his son must attend public school for the good of Paris!’. Not that she was sure that would work, really.

Turns out, she didn’t have to. When she got back to class, Adrien showed up too. He didn’t have time to say much, but he did say that his father finally agreed to let him stay.

The rest of the day went off without a hitch. Okay, sure, Chloé was too excited to really pay attention to the classwork. But no one else seemed to be paying that much attention either.

They were still whispering, and passing notes, and texting about Lady Luck. Chloé realized there was a newfound importance for the secret identity. If they found out it was her, they’d hate her.

When the last bell rang, Chloé was the only one who stayed in her seat. Most people ran out, including the teacher. Even Sabrina started to leave before realizing she wasn’t getting up. Her question was asked in just a tilt of the head.

“Can you go ahead and wait for me?” Chloé asked her. “I want to talk to Adrien. Alone.”

“Oh,” Sabrina said. “Good luck.”

Chloé watched her leave. Turning her attention to Adrien, who was currently having a quiet conversation with Nino. She couldn’t hear what they were saying, but she watched them interact. When Adrien gestured over to her, Nino gave a glance and then frowned. He said something to Adrien, but Adrien got that stubborn pout on his face.

It only lasted a moment before going to a softer smile. They seemed to agree on something, and Nino left. Adrien came back over to her.

“What’s up with him?” Chloé asked.

“Nothing,” Adrien said. “He was just giving suggestions on the whole thing with that gum prank from earlier.”

Crossing her arms, Chloé sunk lower into her seat. Adrien didn’t say anything else, just taking the seat next to her.

“Any chance I could put off the inevitable conversation?” Chloé wondered. “Maybe by offering to let you meet a new tiny friend?”

“That might work for a bit,” Adrien agreed.

“Good,” she said. “You can come out now.”

Instead of coming out, Tikki just poked her from inside the pocket. Chloé rolled her eyes and gave Adrien an apologetic smile.

“Apparently she’s shy,” Chloé said, earning another poke. “Come on. He already knows you exist. It’s fine.”

After another moment, Tikki reluctantly flew out of her jacket. She had a sort of disapproving look. Not truly mad or disappointed, but still a bit upset.

“You’re not supposed to tell anyone,” Tikki said.

“Technically I didn’t?” Chloé said.

“Sorry,” Adrien said. “It was accidental. We just ran into each other and figured it out.”

Tikki looked about to ask something else, but she was cut off by a black blur tackling her. Once it stopped moving, it was easy to recognize as a cat Kwami.

“Glad to see you, sugarcube!” the cat Kwami said.

“Plagg!” Tikki exclaimed. “What are you-?”

Tikki looked back and forth between Plagg and Adrien. Realization hit her, and soon she had buried her face in her hands. Paws? Chloé would have to ask technical terms later.

“I think that’s a record,” Tikki sighed.

“It is,” Plagg agreed. “The previous record was that married couple about a century ago. They lasted a week. This pair couldn’t even last two days.”

“More like two seconds,” Chloé shrugged.

“Pretty much as soon as we ran into each other,” Adrien admitted.

“Only because he made a pun though,” she said.

Tikki sighed, but seemed to accept this. No one missed the small smile on her face as she snuggled closer to Plagg.

“So,” Adrien began. “Cant we- can we talk about the other thing?”

“Any chance we can ignore it?” Chloé wondered.

He didn’t respond. Giving a sigh, Chloé put her head on the table again. She had really hoped that this could all go away.

“How much has been said?” Chloé asked.

“Not too much detail,” Adrien admitted. “Just describing you as the typical spoiled brat alpha bitch bully trope. But the way they talked about you… it sounded more like they were talking about...”

“Like they were talking about my mother,” she finished.

Under the desk, he took her hand. Tikki detached herself from Plagg, now pressing a hug against Chloé’s cheek.

“Why?” Adrien asked.

“Do you ever feel trapped in who you are?” Chloé asked. “Because I do. If I’m horrible, people hate me, but my mother encourages that behavior. If I’m nice, she gets upset, and but everyone else seems to like me.”

“Seems to,” he repeated.

“I’ve told you about your fangirls before,” she huffed. “Trying to suck up to me just to get a chance to see you. But it’s always been something like that. Kids wanting to come play at my place because I had the coolest toys, wanting to hang out with me because I could afford to pay for their meals or shopping or whatever.”

“So your classmates-” he began.

“Not them, no,” she admitted. “Classmates before them. My options are to be hated by them and liked by my mother, or be loved by them and hurt by them.”

“Well fuck that!” Plagg said.

“Plagg,” Tikki warned.

“Look kid,” he said, ignoring Tikki’s warning and floating an inch in front of Chloé’s face. “If you were one of my Chosen, I’d tell you to burn those bridges. Leave and start over. Fuck it all.”

“Tempting,” Chloé admitted.

“Plagg,” Tikki warned again.

“But,” Plagg sighed. “You’re one of Tikki’s. She’s the creation to my destruction. So her advice would probably be to create your own happiness.”

“Create your own happiness?” Adrien asked.

“He’s right about that, at least,” Tikki said. “Creating your own happiness is difficult. But choose what actions make you happy, not ones that would please others.”

And that was the conundrum in itself, wasn’t it? Having people like her is what made her happy. But it wasn’t just them ‘liking her’. If it was that, she wouldn’t have cared about those who only cared about the cool things she could buy them.

The only friends she had were Adrien and Sabrina. Adrien had known her since they were little, and had enough money that he didn’t need someone to buy him whatever he wanted. Sabrina, on the other hand, well, wasn’t.

But she never asked. Sabrina was the one person who had looked at her, despite how terrible she was, and invited her in. Not just asked to hang out with her, but invited her over to her home. Offered to pay for herself unless Chloé took her somewhere she couldn’t afford.

And now? Perhaps Plagg had a point about a fresh start. Not burning bridges, but creating a new person.

Everyone loved Lady Luck. Alya was enraptured by her. Marinette found her to be a reason to stand up for what she believes in. And Mylene… Mylene had hugged her. It was such a little thing, but all day it kept her smiling.

“I still don’t know what to do,” Chloé admitted. “But Lady Luck does. She’s going to be a hero.”

“You are her,” Adrien reminded. “You could, you know, try being nicer? I know it’ll take a lot of time but-”

“Yeah yeah,” she sighed. “Save the friendship speech. I’ll try, okay? At the very least I’ll be less… hostile. I won’t start things just to be a jackass.

“We can work on it,” Tikki said.

“Or go wild,” Plagg countered.

“You know,” Chloé mused. “I think we might work better if we switched. Can I take the cat instead?”

“Hey!” Tikki pouted.

“I don’t know,” Adrien said. “You prepared to deal with a tiny creature that eats nothing but Camembert? Because so far, I hate the idea of going around smelling like cheese all the time.”

“Hush, you smell delicious,” Plagg said.

“I mean you won’t smell worse than any other teenage boy,” Chloé said. “But no, you can keep the stink man.”

“I knew we picked you for a reason,” Tikki laughed, sitting on her shoulder. “At least we agree about the Stinky Sock.”

It was Plagg’s turn to pout. And it was also Adrien’s turn to sigh and lay his face on the table. Chloé gently played with his hair in a comforting gesture.

“That should help, some,” Adrien sighed. “I should still go apologize to that girl from earlier.”

“If this is about the gum prank you don’t have to apologize,” Chloé said. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I know,” he said. “But I don’t know if she’ll believe me. So I might as well just say sorry, right?”

“I guess,” she said. “Although, while I’m definitely not the expert on when to apologize, I have a feeling that if you try to talk to her while she’s still fired up, you could get decked.”

“Honestly I’d take that,” he said. “At least then she might hear me out.”

“Ugh,” she rolled her eyes. “Okay, look, I’m going to at least try to fix this, okay?”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I’ll go talk to her,” she said. “She probably won’t listen to me either, but she hates you because I’m a jerk. So the least I can do is try to fix this so you’re not, you know, still isolated.”

“Thanks, I think,” he said.

“Okay,” she said. “Just hang back for a few minutes then head out.”

She got up from the desk, making sure to grab her purse this time before hurrying out. Tikki returned to her jacket pocket.

The halls were nearly empty. Between the day's excitement and the incoming rain, everyone wanted to go home sooner rather than later. Honestly if she didn’t have to talk to people she would’ve zipped out of there as soon as the bell rang.

Speaking of rain, it had to start up right as she opened the door. And of course Sabrina had her umbrella.

“Great,” Chloé sighed. “This is going to mess up my hair.”

“Oh, wow, that’d be the worst.”

Chloé jumped dramatically at the voice, but was somewhat pleased to find it belonged to the person she’d been looking for. She had no idea why Marinette decided to wait on the front steps instead of beating the rain home, but it did make for some conveniences.

“Hey, you’re just who I was looking for,” Chloé began.

“Save it,” Marinette said. “I don’t care. You can’t threaten me for your seat back. And if you’re trying to keep me from ‘getting close to your ‘Adrikins’’ or whatever then-”

“No, it’s not-” she sighed. ‘Honestly if anything I’d want you to get close to him.”

“I… what?” she asked.

“Look,” she said. “Adrien… isn’t like me. He’s sweet and nice and this ray of sunshine kinda person. The guy’s idea of ‘teen rebellion’ is going to school, and I’m pretty sure he’s only lied once in his entire life. He wasn’t part of that gum prank, he really was trying to clean it off.”

“And you expect me to believe that?” she raised an eyebrow.

“I have no idea,” she said. “I’m a terrible person. And for all you know, this could just be an elaborate setup. But the whole point of Adrien coming to school was to get him some actual friends, and I just hope I haven’t already screwed that up by being a jackass.”

“Are you-,” she gave her a weird look. “Are you trying to apologize?”

“Oh god no that’d be ridiculous,” she said. “But Adrien is. He’ll talk to you about it soon enough, and apologize for the things I do. Even though he shouldn’t have to and-”

Ugh. This was difficult. Why couldn’t she just apologize herself and fix things? Oh. Right. She was too far gone that the thought keeps getting pushed down. And any attempt wouldn’t be taken seriously. Life would be a hell of a lot easier if that would make everything okay.

“I get it,” Chloé said. “You hate me, that’s fine. I’ve earned that. But this isn’t me being a jerk, or some powerplay, or anything. Just please judge Adrien for who he is, and not for who I am, okay?”

Chloé expected to have her request flat out dismissed, but she didn’t get any response. Instead, Marinette was just staring at her, wide-eyed and shocked, mouth hanging open slightly. A boom of thunder only emphasized how dumbstruck she looked. Chloé just tilted her head at her.

“What?” Chloé demanded.

“You-you said please,” Marinette said.

“Oh,” she replied, going over her sentence again. “Guess I did.”

“You never say please!” she exclaimed.

“Yeah, well this is important to me,” she said, decidedly not meeting her face. “Adrien is important to me. And that’s the last thing I’m saying on it. You can decide for yourself to believe me or not. I’m going home and hopefully not ruining my hair too much on the way.”

With that, she turned and walked down the steps. Marinette didn’t call her back. She only stopped once she was across the street and a few shops down, waiting under the awning.

By that time, Adrien had come out. They were talking, at least.

“Is everything okay?” Tikki asked, poking her head our of the collar of her jacket.

“Yeah,” Chloé said. “I think I will be.”

They watched the pair from afar for a minute. Too far to hear what they were saying, but it looked like they were actually talking. She watched Adrien offer her umbrella after his car pulled up. Marinette took the offer, waving goodbye as he left.

Admittedly, Chloé did laugh when the umbrella snapped shut on her. But Tikki chuckled too, so it had to count for something.

Once they had both left, Chloé headed home too. She could already hear her phone ringing like crazy, probably Adrien texting her about how it went. He was adorable when excited. Usually she’d say ‘like a puppy’, but now it was more ‘kitten-like’, wasn’t it?

Oh boy. If he thought he was going to be obnoxious with cat puns, then he was underestimating her need to tease him about inside jokes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like Chloé's characterization was all over the place here, but then again that's pretty similar to Canon. 
> 
> But the heart of it all is that at her core she is a good person who wants to care about people, but the way she was raised makes her suppress that feeling. And the few unlucky experiences she had trying to be nice just reinforced it. But as Lady Luck, she has the freedom to care and be that person.


	3. Stormy Weather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely gave Chat a new outfit, which can be seen here: https://cornerverse.tumblr.com/post/187219901559/i-almost-didnt-draw-this-because-of-how-much-my
> 
> As expected, a lot of 'Canon' dialogue is the same here. That's because the only difference is replacing Marinette/Ladybug with Chloé/Lady Luck. The bonus scenes are all original of course, but a lot of the Akuma fights will be similar. Changes to dialogue and character interaction will happen more the further we get into this fic. 
> 
> Oh! I also decided to bump up all the teen's ages, so they're 15-16 instead of 13-14.

Chloé flopped onto her bed with a groan, listening to her phone ring. As Tikki flitted about, eating a few cookies as well, Chloé waited for the pickup.

“Hello,” Sabrina’s voice came out of the phone.

“I hate the internet,” Chloé complained.

“Why now?” she wondered.

“Ugh,” she said. “My dad just asked me why I stopped calling him ‘daddy’.”

“Oh my god,” she laughed. “You didn’t tell him the truth, right?”

“I wouldn’t be able to look him in the face if I did,” she said, sitting up. “I just told him I was getting a little too old to be calling him ‘daddy’. Which isn't a complete lie, since sixteen is a little old for that anyway.”

“That’s fair,” she replied. “I wonder if he would even understand if you explained it.”

“Don’t make me imagine that,” she said, pulling her laptop onto the bed with her.

“But now I’m imagining it!” she said. “Please change the subject!”

“Okay,” she said. “Do you know anything about gardening?”

Sabrina was silent for a moment. It was easy to imagine her having pulled the phone away from her face to stare at it.

“I don’t know much about it,” Sabrina finally answered. “Why?”

“I was thinking about it,” Chloé said. “The plants on my balcony are okay, but I think some flowers could be cool. Like marigolds or something? Maybe some actual food? Oh! Imagine if I had my own supply of strawberries!”

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked.

“Yeah, why?” she replied.

“Because you’re talking about gardening,” she said. “Chloé Bourgeoisie, daughter of the Mayor, who could buy as many strawberries as she wanted and have them delivered on a literal silver platter, is talking about gardening.”

“Don’t sass me,” she huffed. “I could totally grow a garden if I wanted. I just never wanted to before.”

“Sorry,” she said. “I know you could. I’m just worried. After that thing with Ivan turning into a rock monster, I’ve been worried every time someone’s acting weird. Doesn’t help that dad’s been on high alert with his job. All stressed.”

Glancing at Tikki, Chloé debated about how to respond. She knew far more than most people did right now. Enough to reassure Sabrina about this with more than just a generic ‘it’ll be okay’. But then, how is she supposed to know that?

Huh. That gave her an idea. Adrien did promise that they’d give Alya an interview. Perhaps Lady Luck could answer some questions, put their minds at ease. For now, Chloé should at least say something.

“I think even if someone ends up as one of those monsters it’ll be fine,” Chloé said. “Lady Luck will come and save the day, of course.”

“That’s true,” Sabrina said. “I just hope-”

The rest of her sentence was cut off by a loud alarm. Chloé glared at her phone, the phrase ‘speak of the Devil and he shall appear’ flashing through her mind.

The day after the first Akuma, someone had made an app to alert people when there was one in the area. Quickly clicking over, she saw a flood of pictures featuring a girl in purple. Damn it.

“Hey, I need to go,” Chloé said.

“What? Why?” Sabrina asked.

“Uh… emergency shower,” she said. “Spilled a drink on me. Wouldn’t want to get all sticky. Call you later, okay?”

“Okay, b-”

She tapped the end call button and slipped the phone into her pocket. Pushing her laptop of her lap, she found Tikki ready to go.

“That wasn’t a very believable excuse,” Tikki said.

“Not like I have much option,” Chloé said. “It’s either lame excuses, or I could always tell her the truth, identities be damned.”

“Fair point,” she agreed.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

By the time Lady Luck got to the scene, the entire street beside the park was trashed, and the Akuma nowhere to be seen. It also looked like a blizzard had blown through, since there was snow piled everywhere.

“A little help?” someone called.

Looking toward a snow bank, she found a familiar pair of legs sticking out of the top. Rolling her eyes, Lady Luck dragged Chat out.

“Having some trouble there, kitkat?” Lady Luck asked.

“Just a little,” Chat answered with a shiver. “Guess I should’ve grabbed a scarf.”

“I don’t think a scarf would help,” she said, eyeing him over. “What the hell happened to your costume?”

“I asked about upgrades,” he said. “I don’t know about you, but I think I’m the ‘cat’s meow’!”

He was… something alright. Though Lady Luck would admit that he did his job of modeling very well.

The part that was most different was the top. He wore a bright green shirt, with a black vest over it. The vest was unzipped, and decorated with green accents. While the wrist-length gloves were the same, he seemed to also have a second pair of over-the-elbow gloves underneath. Or were they detached sleeves? She couldn’t tell, but either way it left his shoulders bare.

The belt was different too. It looked more like two crossed belts that met at the back to form the tail, along with a cat-shaped buckle. The bottom half of his outfit hadn’t changed much, still the leather pants and silver-toed boots.

But the one part that caught her eye…

“Okay,” Lady Luck sighed. “I know I joked about this being your fursona, but you went from just the bell on a zipper to an actual bell collar?”

“It fits the aesthetic,” Chat pouted.

“Sure,” she said, flicking the bell. “Whatever you say, kitten.”

His retort was cut off by a nearby ad screen flickering to life. The Akuma was on screen, grinning at the camera. She looked fairly normal compared to Stoneheart. Like a girl who went overboard with purple madness.

Actually, the girl looked very familiar. Twin tails and an umbrella. Wasn’t there a girl like that in the class next to them? Aurore. Considering she always had that umbrella, it was probably where the Butterfly was hiding.

“Hello viewers!” The Akuma chirped. “Here’s the latest forecast for the first day of summer. Looks like Mother Nature had a change of plans. Summer vacation is officially over!”

“Already?” Chat jokingly whined. “But I look so good in a swimsuit.”

“True,” Lady Luck said. “Although, the end of summer gets me closer to pumpkin spice season. But hey, at least we know where she went.”

The tv studio was thankfully close by. The duo were already inside by the time ‘Stormy Weather’ finished her speech.

Kicking down the door, they found an empty room, though the speech was still airing. They realized they’d been tricked when they heard laughter behind them.

“When did she have time to record something?” Chat wondered aloud.

They didn’t have time to turn around before hearing the crackle of electricity. In the next second, Lady Luck was dodging a falling stage light and being plunged into darkness.

In a fit of anger, she focused on the energy coming off of Stormy Weather and threw her yoyo. There was a satisfying ‘thonk’, and suddenly Chat was wheezing with laughter.

“You hit her right in the face!” Chat said between breaths. “It was like a slapstick routine!”

“How can you even see in this?” Lady Luck asked, trying to feel her way around.

“Night vision,” he said, probably shrugging. “Wait, if you don’t have night vision how’d you see where to throw?”

“No clue” she said.

“A ‘lucky guess’ then,” he said. “But ‘Frosty the snowgirl’ is getting away. Come on!”

He took her hand, and she let him drag her through the dark corridors. Instead of focusing on darkness, Lady Luck took the time to try and figure out how she managed to hit Stormy Weather.

It was weird. Despite the darkness, she could still tell how far in front of them Stormy Weather was. She could tell that the girl was above them, probably in a stairwell. Or half-way through the ceiling. Yet Chat had to lead her through a doorway and around the first set of stairs before he should’ve been able to see her.

“Duck!” Chat shouted.

Lady Luck hit the deck, diving away from him as she felt something rush past her face. Stormy Weather moved again, and Lady Luck instinctively grabbed Chat’s hand again. She could ‘see’ him too, the same way she ‘saw’ Stormy Weather.

Chat dragged her up more stairs, and eventually back outside. Lady Luck blinked in the light, muttering swears under her breath.

“You airheads!” Stormy Weather shouted, summoning a whirlwind. “You fell right into my trap! There’s no way out! Party’s over fools!”

“We all know the party can’t start without me!” Lady Luck retorted. “Lucky Charm!”

As she saw the large object falling toward her, she moved out of the way. It was a large weight, the kind of cowbell shaped one straight out of a cartoon. Not really something she wanted to catch, even with her Hero strength.

“What am I supposed to do with this?” Lady Luck demanded, glaring at her yoyo.

“Maybe it’s telling us to ‘weight’ out the storm?” Chat suggested?

“I swear I will throw you off of this roof!” she huffed.

Seems like Stormy Weather agreed, as she sent a hailstorm toward them. Chat’s baton skills took care of that, twirling it so fast it became a shield.

“So what’s the plan?” Chat asked. “My arm’s starting to get a cramp!”

“Cause a distraction!” Lady Luck said. “I have an idea!”

“All right,” he grinned. “Hey, Coldilocks! Is that all you got?”

Chat ran around, dodging lightning bolt after lightning bolt, with spins and flips that would make any parkour master jealous. Of course, it only made Stormy Weather angrier and angrier. Exactly as planned.

While that was happening, Lady Luck waited for a good opening. That came when Chat used Cataclysm on a billboard.

Lady Luck threw her yoyo, hooking Stormy Weather by the ankle. She then tied her end to the weight. When she tried to fly through the hole she blasted in the billboard, Stormy Weather found herself unable to go higher. Both the weight and Lady Luck sitting on top of it was too heavy for even her.

All Lady Luck had to do was reel her in. Just like fishing. Not that she’d ever want to go fishing. More like flying a very disgruntled kite.

Stormy Weather charged another bolt, but Lady Luck wound the cord around her leg for extra leverage and pulled her off balance.

The umbrella dropped, shattering as it hit the ground. Stormy Weather turned back into Aurore, who screamed as she began falling.

Chat ran up the billboard, launching off to catch her mid-air, and sticking the landing. With her yoyo freed up, Lady Luck snagged the Butterfly as it tried to get away.

“See you around, little butterfly,” Lady Luck said, letting the purified bug fly away.

“What’s going on?” Aurore asked.

“Sorry, Miss Sunshine,” Chat said, setting her down. “Seems you got Akumatized.”

“Oh no,” she cried. “I tried not to! That Butterfly cornered me in the elevator and I tried to fight it but- oh god how much damage did I do?”

“It’s okay,”Lady Luck said. “Once I figure out how to toss this thing in the air, it’ll all be fixed.”

All three of them stared at the weight, none really looking forward to figuring that out.

* * *

A few minutes later, Chloé and Adrien sat on a bench. The park was mostly abandoned, thanks to everyone having run away when Stormy Weather appeared. Convenient, since it meant that Tikki and Plagg could eat their snacks in peace.

“You would think,” Adrien began, “That being frozen in a block of ice would make a guy want to reschedule a photoshoot.”

“Texting Nathalie to beg anyway?” Chloé asked.

“Not really,” he said, grinning at his phone. “Now that I actually have people to schedule things with, I’d rather not try to figure out how to work around planned events. Especially since anything with friends will be first thing canceled.”

“Oh,” she said. “So who are you texting then?”

“Uh, Marinette, actually,” he said, still grinning. “She saw the report about an Akuma at the park and wondered if I got caught up in it.”

“How’d she know you were at the park?” she wondered.

“I might’ve invited her to see the photoshoot,” he admitted. “I noticed her sketching out some dresses and turns out she’s interested in being a fashion designer. Figured I could invite her to see what some of the business is like. She couldn't come because she had to babysit, but she said she appreciates the offer.”

“You’re sweet,” she said. “Trying to help your crush achieve her dream.”

Adrien very quickly turned red, realizing he’d been caught. Though he attempted to stammer out some denial, Plagg was more than willing to join in.

“Thank cheese you know,” Plagg sighed. “I need to share my pain with someone. He’s giving Shakespeare a run for his money with the way he goes on and it's driving me crazy!”

“But Plagg,” Tikki asked innocently. “I thought you loved ‘cheese’!”

The rest of them couldn’t help but snicker at the offended expression he made. After a moment, he shoved another wedge of cheese into his mouth and pouted.

“I think it’s sweet,” Tikki said, patting Adrien on the head.

“Of course you do,” Chloé said. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Plan?” Adrien asked.

“Yes,” she said. “You like her, so of course you’re going to ask her out, right? You thinking something big and public? I can get a stage set up if you want. Or if you decide to go for something small and intimate, I’m sure I can cause a distraction to give you two some alone time.”

“Okay, look,” he sighed. “As much as I want to go nuts, considering the bad start we had, I want to be a little more cautious about this, you know? Not that I won’t still flirt a bit, but I think I’ll hold off on dramatic declarations of love.”

“Fine,” she said. “But you’d better give me updates on everything. And if you need help...”

“Call you, I know,” he said. “Really though, I’m glad you’re on board with this. I mean, I know you two have a history...”

“Yeah yeah,” she huffed. “I’m a horrible person and all that. Look, first of all, I’m trying to at least not be that bad. Secondly, even if I was still a jerk, I care more about you. So I’d at least play nice for you. Which is what I’m doing anyway, but whatever.”

“Thanks for the help,” he laughed. “Now we just need to get over the big hurdle of how she’ll get along with my father.”

“Yikes,” she winced at the thought. “Honestly? I think they’d either hate each other or get along far too well. Maybe both at the same time.”

“And we’re back to not helping,” he said.

Shaking her head, she reached over and gently ran her fingers through his hair. He leaned into the touch, almost rubbing against her hand.

There was a rumbling sound, and at first she looked up, concerned that Stormy Weather had somehow come back. Yet the sky was still clear and blue. No, the rumbling was coming from something far closer.

“Are you-” Chloé paused, in disbelief that she was about to ask this. “Are you fucking purring?”

“What? No!” Adrien said, backing up as the noise stopped. “People can’t purr.”

“Considering your cat powers, I wonder,” she said, glancing to the Kwami. “Are there any side-effects of using the Miraculous?”

Tikki was pointedly not meeting her face. Plagg, however, was trying not to laugh.

“Great,” Adrien said. “Purring. That’s...”

“You’ll be fine,” Plagg said. “Human instincts should overpower any animal ones you get. So even if you find yourself stalking a mouse, you won’t actually pounce and eat it. Probably.”

“So reassuring,” he groaned.

“Please tell me I won’t do anything weird,” Chloé said, looking at Tikki.

“Slightly,” Tikki admitted. “Humans aren’t as familiar with ladybug behavior as they are with cat behavior, so they won’t notice as much. But your interest in gardening stems from that.”

“Interest in gardening?” Adrien asked. “Chloé, interested in gardening?”

“Shut up,” Chloé sighed. “Sabrina said the same damn thing. Wait- is that thing I did with the yoyo another side-effect?”

“What thing with the yoyo?” Tikki asked.

“Oh yeah,” Adrien said, thoughtful frown coming to his face. “When Stormy Weather took out the lights, Chloé managed to hit her in the face with her yoyo even though she couldn’t see.”

Tikki gave her a disappointed look. Usually Chloé was immune to such looks, after years of disappointing everyone. But when it’s a tiny but powerful magical creature who has had who knows how long to perfect said look, well, it gets to you.

“Look, she dropped a stage light on me,” Chloé said. “I think I’m allowed to be a little upset about that.”

“Just a little,” Adrien agreed. “But the point was that she could see where Stormy Weather was, but not anything else.”

“It wasn’t just her, actually,” she said. “I could tell where you were too.”

“Interesting,” Tikki said. “Can you try it now?”

Chloé closed her eyes, focusing on that feeling again. It was a bit fainter now, but she could stil feel it. Adrien next to her, Tikki and Plagg about a foot in front of them.

Tikki floated up a bit. Then down and to the left. Both times Chloé tilted her head to follow the movement. For whatever reason, she floated up again, quicker than last time.

“Why are you moving around like that?” Chloé demanded, opening her eyes.

“Seeing if you can follow me,” Tikki answered. “That’s interesting! Seems like you have some sort of Magic sensing ability!”

“Ladybugs can sense Magic?” Adrien asked.

“Not more than any other creature,” she shook her head. “But not every ability is related to the Miraculous. That’s just something you have. Since you never noticed it before, it might’ve been dormant, but using the Miraculous awakened it!”

“Huh,” Chloé frowned. “Guess I was more cut out for the job than I thought.”

“Cool,” Adrien grinned. “So can we learn other Magic? Maybe cast a few spells?”

“You just want to go to Hogwarts,” she rolled her eyes.

“Excuse me,” he scoffed. “We’re French. We’d go to Beauxbatons.”

“At least we’d have better uniforms,” she relented.

“Right...” Tikki said, clearly having no clue what they just said. “You might be able to use other Magic, but for now I’d suggest waiting.”

“Why?” Adrien asked.

“You might blow up,” Plagg shrugged.

Both teens leaned back in their seats, staring at him. Then glancing at each other, and finally to Tikki. They were hoping for her to chastise Plagg and reassure them with a ‘you won’t blow up’. Yet her expression was more of a ‘yeah kinda’ response.

Chloé and Adrien glanced at each other, urging the other to ask first. Even though he didn’t open his mouth, she could tell he wanted to say ‘curiosity killed the cat’. She just glared at him, raising an eyebrow in hope to remind him of the second half of that phrase.

“We won’t… actually blow up, right?” Adrien asked.

“Not exactly,” Tikki admitted. “You two are young, and your bodies can only handle so much Magic. That’s why you can only use your Power once before you detransform. When you get a little older, you’d be able to use them more.”

“Wait a second,” Chloé said. “While I think I’ve done a fantastic job at being Lady Luck so far, why not choose an adult for the job? Two teens with limits on their powers against an adult with no limits seems a bit unbalanced.”

“Desperate times,” Plagg shrugged.

“Thanks,” she glared.

“While I would’ve put it nicer, he has a point,” Tikki said. “You can’t pick someone at random to wield a Miraculous. You need someone with a lot of Magic, not to mention it has to be compatible Magic. You also need to pick a good person, who would be a Hero instead of using the power for personal gain. And while it’s not a true requirement, matching the powers to someone’s skill set is helpful.”

“And we were the only ones that fit?” Adrien guessed.

“Pretty much,” she said. “We had a few other ideas in mind, but most of them were your classmates. There’s an odd concentration of Magic ability there. But ultimately you two were Chosen.”

“Oh, right,” Chloé sighed, leaning back. “Nearly forgot that Marinette was the ‘alternate choice’.”

“Huh,” Adrien said, tilting his head. “Now I’m trying to imagine the timeline where she ended up as my partner instead.”

“Oh god I don’t even want to imagine that!” she groaned.

“Not that I don’t enjoy you being Lady Luck,” he assured. “But the first friend I make at school, and my crush, being my Superhero Partner… well, that’s the dream, isn’t it?”

“More like a nightmare,” she shook her head. “Remember, you two wouldn’t know each other’s identities. The mental image of you two trying to dance around each other because ‘oh no, can’t let my crush know I’m a superhero’ is causing me physical pain!”

“You might have a point,” he said.

“Ugh,” she said. “Just for making me imagine that headache, I’m making that garden and I’m planting catnip!”

“You-you don’t think that’ll actually work, right?” he asked. “Right? Please tell me that won’t work!”

Plagg didn’t answer him, only snickering to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I give my girl a bullshit power for no reason other than I love the Aura Vision ability and always give it to my faves? Yes. Yes I did. It's my fanfic and I can do whatever I want. Fuck off Jimothy.


	4. The Bubbler

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One of these days I'm going to post the wrong chapter to the wrong fic and y'all are going to get a notification, open this fic up, and be met with an incomprehensible fma groupchat fic. 
> 
> Speaking of, with the way future chapters are going I think we can make a game of 'spot the fma reference!'. Because honestly it's too easy to make them.

“So,” Chloé began, leveling him with her best unimpressed look. “Care to tell me why I had to get kidnapped to your birthday party?”

“It’s complicated?” Adrien said, scratching at his head. “Uh, Nino wanted to throw me a party, and Father was very against it. Next thing I know this happened.”

He gestured out the bedroom window. Looking down, they could still see the party doing on. All of their classmates gathered up and dancing, led by a clown at the DJ table.

“Ugh,” Chloé shook her head. “You do realize that if anyone bothered to ask, we could’ve thrown a subtle party your dad didn’t know about?”

“I wasn’t going to ask, really,” Adrien said. “But Nino felt my father was ‘being a downer, harsh, and uncool’.”

“The boy has a point,” she said. “Never thought I’d be agreeing with any of our classmates, but your dad is kind of a fuck sometimes.”

“Maybe a little,” he admitted. “For now we should go de-Akumatize Nino.”

“Or,” she mused. “We could enjoy the party for a bit.”

“I’m with her on this,” Plagg spoke up. “Let’s have a little fun while your father’s away!”

“Don’t even think about it!” Tikki exclaimed. “Nino’s been Akumatized! We need to take care of that now!”

“He’s not doing much,” Chloé said, looking out the window again. “Look, nothing bad’s happening right now. And if Lady Luck and Chat Noir don’t show up, there won’t be any danger of us losing our Miraculous. So why not have a little fun and then take care of the problem after?”

“I think they have a point,” Adrien said, avoiding Tikki’s disapproving glare.

“Three against one, sugarcube,” Plagg grinned.

“Ugh, fine,” Tikki said. “As long as the party is all he’s doing.”

“In that case,” Chloé said. “Time for a dance!”

She grabbed Adrien’s hand and dragged him through the halls and back down stairs. Some small part of her mind wondered why the house felt emptier than usual. But it was a big place with only a few people ever in it.

Less people now, actually. That was probably why it felt so empty. Without Emilie, everything felt sort of empty. It’s one of the reasons why Chloé felt that Adrien needed this party.

Everything seemed to fall apart after that. While Gabriel had always been a ‘harsh and uncool fuck’, he’d been a lot better before Emilie went missing. Now he withdrew more than ever. Adrien was unstable, afraid he’d lose both parents. Until he was pushed into rebellion, into going after what he wanted. Just like them.

And Chloé was hurting too, even if she didn’t feel like she was allowed to. After all, Emilie wasn’t her mother. Even if she felt just as empty as everyone else after this.

She pushed that thought out of her mind. No. She was not going to think about that right now. She definitely wasn’t going to make Adrien think about that right now. Today was his birthday and she was going to make sure it was the best time he could have. Partying with friends, dancing with his crush, getting presents.

Back outside, they joined the crowd. The dancing was a bit lackluster, but she didn’t really expect anyone to be that good at it. Although she did see something that could make Adrien’s day even better.

Dragging him across the dance floor, Chloé practically shoved him at Marinette. The two nearly toppled over, but it was worth it to see his face.

“Sorry,” Adrien said, helping her up.

“Don’t worry about it,” Marinette said, giving Chloé a look over his shoulder. “Not your fault.”

“This is what I get for trying to help,” Chloé muttered. “Should’ve just gone and requested a slow dance.”

Adrien sighed, giving her a look. Chloé decided to back off a little, but stayed nearby. Just to eavesdrop, of course.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” Marinette said.

“Thanks,” Adrien replied.

“And I did remember your present,” she said, handing him a blue box. “I wanted to give it to you this morning, but things came up.”

“Thanks again,” he said. “Mind if I open it now?”

“It’s your birthday,” she laughed. "You can choose now or later."

Adrien happily tore through the packaging, finding a small white box. Opening that, was a blue scarf. Chloé could tell from here that it was handmade and very soft.

“Wow,” Adrien said. “It’s amazing. Thank you.”

“That’s the third time you’ve thanked me,” Marinette chuckled. “But you’re welcome.”

“So,” he said, wrapping the scarf around his neck. “How are you enjoying the party?”

“I don’t think anyone’s ‘enjoying it’,” she sighed. “I mean, I’m sure Lady Luck and Chat Noir will show up soon and all, but I’d like to have them do it before anyone else gets blasted into the stratosphere.”

“I-what?” he asked.

“Right, you probably don’t know yet,” she said. “I think Nino’s mad at adults in general, so he’s putting them in bubbles that just, you know, float away into the sky?”

“He’s doing what?!” Chloé shouted. “Why the hell didn’t you mention that first?”

“You know what,” Adrien interrupted before either could say anything else. “I think I should go put this scarf somewhere safe! It’s a little too warm now, but I want to make sure I have it when winter comes around!”

“Okay?” Marinette replied, giving him a look that said she didn’t quite believe him.

“Right,” Chloé nodded. “And I’m going to go ask clown boy over there about song requests. He probably won’t get mad and send me off into the void.”

Of course, Chloé ran very much away from the DJ table. Instead, she headed back inside with Adrien hot on her heels.

They were barely through the doors when the Kwami appeared.

“I do not want an ‘I told you so speech’,” Chloé snapped.

“That’s fine,” Tikki said. “I think you get the idea.”

“Oh that’s so much worse,” Adrien shuddered. “How does she do that?”

“Years of perfecting it,” Plagg said, also giving a shiver.

“Spots on!”

“Claws Out!”

Lady Luck and Chat Noir ran back out, leaping on top of the wall just in time to see Ivan get bubbled. She tried to fling her yoyo at the bubble, but it just bounced off, coming right back at them. Chat’s baton deflected it again, this time making it crash into the DJ table.

The music screeched to a halt, and caught everyone’s attention. Including the Akuma’s. Once they realized a fight was going down, nearly everyone took the chance to run and hide.

“Sorry, clown boy, but the party’s over!” Lady Luck announced.

“Why you gotta be like that?” The Bubbler whined.

Before they could say anything else, a wave of green bubbles were tossed their way. Lady Luck tried to dodge, but the bubbles just stuck to her, swirling around and around, making her dizzy.

When she could properly see again, she found herself and Chat inside a bubble of their own. Great.

“Give me your Miraculous before you run out of air,” The Bubbler demanded.

“As if,” Lady Luck scoffed.

“Total party poopers,” he huffed. “Just like adults. Kids need freedom! Fun! To let loose and live it up! Adults are controlling and bossy.”

“Kids need adults!” Marinette shouted from her hiding place under the table. “Adults keep children safe and protected! They care for their kids, they love them!”

“Most adults do,” Lady Luck and Chat Noir chorused.

The few people they could still see gave them a look of shock and empathy, having heard the bitterness in their statements. Marinette herself looked a bit guilty for having said that.

“You have to bring the adults back!” Chat shouted, shrugging off the look.

“Nope, never,” The Bubbler said. “Know what, since you care so much about these adults, why don’t you go float with them for a while?”

With that, he ran toward them, kicking the bubble high into the air. Oh that was not a good feeling in Lady Luck’s stomach. Chat didn’t seem to be faring much better.

“If you throw up in here I will kill you,” Lady Luck threatened.

“I’m good,” Chat said, swallowing the feeling down.

“Then get us out of here!” she commanded.

“If you’re ready to catch us,” he said. “Cataclysm!”

The bubble burst, dropping them into a freefall. Chat extended his baton before chucking it into the Eiffel Tower so hard it stuck, creating a good spot for Lady Luck’s yoyo.

They swung and rolled to the ground. The tumble roughed them up a bit, but they were very quickly getting used to that.

“Good things cats aren’t afraid of heights,” Chat laughed as he got up.

“Too bad you don’t land on your feet,” Lady Luck replied. “Come on. The Butterfly’s probably in that giant bubble wand.”

“Better hurry,” he said, looking at his ring.

The pair sprinted back. Didn’t seem like they had missed much. Bubbler was still trying to get everyone to party again, but a number of them were starting to actually fight back.

Everyone began cheering once they noticed their Heroes back in action.

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Chat grinned while everyone else groaned.

“Looks like no one wants to party with you anymore,” Lady Luck said, pointedly ignoring the pun.

“What’s wrong with all you guys?” Bubbler whined. “Why you gotta be such haters?”

With a growl, Bubbler waved the bubble wand and managed to hit the rest of the guests. All of them were quickly floating upward. 

“Oh come the fuck on,” Lady Luck huffed.

“Outer space is the next stop for your precious peeps!” Bubbler announced. “And they’re never coming back!”

As the kids floated away, Bubbler ran off. Lady Luck and Chat Noir right behind him, heading to the Eiffel Tower.

Wait. Weren’t they just here? And didn’t Stoneheart climb up here too? Okay, sure, they were in Paris, but not everything has to revolve around the Eiffel Tower, does it? Couldn’t they get an Akuma that heads to another landmark?

Whatever. She continued to scale the tower, dodging explosive bubbles as she went. She heard Chat’s ring beep again, and he was getting very close to transforming back.

“Lucky Charm!” Lady Luck shouted.

Magic light dropped a strange device into her hands. She ducked behind a vent system for cover as she inspected it. After flipping it over a few times, she found a switch on the side. Turning it on for a moment produced a spurt of smoke.

She quickly shut it off, wondering why her Lucky Charm would be something broken and only really good for chucking full-strength right at the Akuma. Then it hit her.

Duh. Party. It’s a fog machine. She could work with that.

“Down here, Chat!” Lady Luck shouted.

Chat dodged as he made his way over, ducking down beside her. Turning the machine back on, Lady Luck let it run. Apparently a magically made fog machine produced a hell of a lot more fog than the regular kind. Enough to give them plenty of cover.

“You can’t hide in there forever!” Bubbler shouted.

He continued to fling bubbles in wildly, but they used the cover to move away from the vent. Once Lady Luck was sure she’d have a clear shot, she handed the machine to Chat, closed her eyes and focused on everything else.

She hadn’t tested out that ‘Magic Sense’ much since she discovered it, but it was easy when it was just the three of them up here. Chat beside her, and Bubbler up above on one of the beams.

Reeling back, she launched her yoyo at where she was sure he was. It caught something, and she pulled it toward her. When Lady Luck opened her eyes, she found the bubble wand at the end of the cord.

She quickly snapped it in half, and grabbed the Butterfly before it disappeared into the fog.

“See you around, little Butterfly,” Lady Luck said.

She tossed the fog machine into the sky, and Miraculous Ladybug made the fog dissipate. From here she could see bubbles floating down, returning everyone safely.

And of course, Nino back to normal on top of a beam.

“Can I have some help down?”

* * *

“You know,” Adrien mused. “All in all, not a bad birthday.”

Chloé resisted the urge to chuck her phone out the window at that. Instead, she just glared at his video call.

“Why are you booing me I’m right!” Adrien exclaimed.

“You are and I hate it,” Chloé relented. “Speaking of, what did your dad get you? Please tell me he didn’t get you the same pen for a fourth year in a row.”

“Not this time,” he grinned. “He got smart about it.”

“Really?” she wondered. “He’s terrible at picking out gifts. Like, it is a problem how bad he is at that. Are you telling me he somehow managed to pick out something good?”

“Absolutely not,” he laughed. “But he did decide to let Nathalie pick it out instead. And she was smart enough to go for a prepaid card to let me choose for myself. A bit impersonal, but also a much better option.”

“Nice,” she said. “Any idea what you’re getting?”

“A little,” he said, mischievous grin coming to his face. “I was thinking about what you said about how I should do some actual ‘teen rebellion’.”

“Huh?” she blinked, taking a moment to remember that conversation. “Wait, please tell me you are going to go out and get a piercing!”

“I’m thinking about it,” he said. “Just my ears though!”

“That’s fine,” she said. “Tell me when you want to go so I can hold your hand.”

“Chloé,” he sighed. “In the past few weeks I’ve been crushed by a rock monster, flung across the city, electrocuted, and fell from the Eiffel Tower. I think I can handle the pain of getting my ears pierced.”

She had to give him that, unfortunately. Were they getting used to this too quickly? Casually discussing injuries they got throughout fights? Sure, her Miraculous Cure healed all of that, and it didn’t feel real if they didn’t have to deal with it. But still. That statement alone really reminded her of how real it all was.

Adrien must’ve seen that in her expression, because he quickly changed the subject.

“Hey, not to be ‘that kind of person’,” Adrien began. “But if you were so caught up in this Hero thing that you forgot to buy me a present it’s cool.”

“I didn’t forget,” she said. “I just have things in production and they won’t be ready for a bit. Although, with you wanting to get earrings, that makes this a little easier!”

“Why?” He asked.

“Well...” she said. “How do you feel about merchandising?”

“What?” he asked.

“Lady Luck and Chat Noir are pretty popular,” she elaborated. “People are going to want to make merchandise. You know, action figures, toy versions of our weapons, maybe replica Miraculous. Figured I could get in on that, have Dad get me in connection with people who can make that stuff. Especially since Lady Luck herself can endorse the idea.”

“You were going to get me my own action figure?” he asked.

“Don’t even pretend you aren’t going to be fangirling over it,” she said.

“True,” he admitted. “Though I didn’t expect you to actually do it yourself. If anything I would’ve thought you would’ve seen other people making merch and have Lady Luck discuss royalties.”

She nodded, looking away. For a moment she focused on Tikki, who had taken to using one of the stuffed animals as a bed. Maybe she could buy doll-sized furniture for her? She wondered if the little creature would like any outfits to go with that.

“Hey,” Adrien said, his voice soft. “What’s going on.”

“Nothing, just thinking about things,” Chloé sighed. “That first battle, you know, with Stoneheart? It was kind of a wakeup call. How much I’m just… nothing really.”

“Your great on your own,” he said. “You are a literal Superhero, you know?”

“Of course I am,” she grinned. “But still. Pretty much everything I’ve ever done is because of my parents. All that money and power is from them. Take that away, and I’m not even sure who I am, or what I’m good at.”

“Oh,” he said.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “I mean, I get it. I built my life around that, using them to get what I wanted. So it’s my own fault. But now I’m questioning all of my accomplishments and skills. Like, remember when I was in dance classes? Was I actually good at that or did I just tell the teacher ‘say I’m the best or else my dad will have you fired’?”

“I’ve seen you dance, so I’m pretty sure you’re good at it,” he replied.

“Not the point, Adrikitty,” she sighed. “But this whole project of merchandising is to try and fix that a little. Okay, I’m still using my parents’ money and connections to get it started. But I can come up with ideas and test out prototypes and all that. Go far enough to have connections of my own to use down the road.”

“Huh,” he said. “So, wait, would that be technically a job with actual income?”

“Yep,” she nodded. “Look at me, getting an actual job of sorts. I still have some kinks to work out though. After all, even once I get the prototype toys done, I need to figure out how I’m supposed to prove that I actually discussed this with ‘Lady Luck and Chat Noir’. Since, you know, ‘Chloé’s’ permission means nothing with secret identities.”

“I think you can figure it out,” he said. “But if you need Chat Noir to make an actual appearance, you know who to call.”

“I don’t think the Ghostbusters can help with this,” she deadpanned.

“Who knows,” he snorted. “Maybe we’ll get a ghost-themed Akuma!”

“I think the giant marshmallow man is more likely,” she said.

“Maybe so,” he said.

“That said,” she said. “Have we figured out if Hawkmoth designs the Akumas or if the victim does?”

“Working on Akuma toys and thinking copyright?” he guessed.

“Partly,” she said. “Also because I want to know who was responsible for Bubbler’s design and kick their ass for how ridiculous it was! Do you know how much I had to refrain from commenting on it? Ugh!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to address some comments I got, and talk about how I write Chloé(and her friendhships) here. 
> 
> I'm trying to not go into 'my poor misunderstood baby uwu' territory, but considering the Canon show kinda goes into that it's inevitable. But overall, Chloé is still a spoiled brat and a bully at first. But here, she has had moments of 'maybe I should be nicer' before, and they were met with negativity so she gave up quickly. Now though, she has Adrien, Tikki, and Plagg(kinda) all believing she can be better. This, along with having the 'clean slate' as Lady Luck to befriend their classmates makes her keep at it even when she gets backlash. Lady Luck also helps 'sober her up', so to speak, helping her have a better grasp on reality and consequences and her future in general. 
> 
> I also want to say I am going whole hog on the Chloé and Adrien friendship. That said, it's not romantic. I might call it 'queerplatonic' though. Which leads to the 'Chloé helping set up Marinette and Adrien' thing. Yes, in full Canon she wouldn't do this. But not only is this a little different in the Chloé/Adrien relationship to where that's more likely, but the big difference is that Adrien is the one with the crush on Marinette. She wouldn't care if Mari liked Adrien, but since Adrien likes her, Chloé will help him be happy. 
> 
> I want to go off on a long in-depth tangent on how I will write them, along with how I write other characters, but that's too long for an author's note.


	5. The Pharaoh

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Totally got rid of the plotline with losing the textbook. Partially because it didn't make sense in the first place, partly because it makes less sense that Chloé would be carrying her textbook around. 
> 
> Also I apologize in advance for the fma jokes but they really write themselves because Adrien is just store-brand Alphonse.

“What are you doing here?”

Chloé looked up from her phone to see an angry Alya. Behind her was Marinette, who looked fairly upset but not outright hostile. Yet. She then looked around, gesturing to the various exhibits set up in the museum.

“Is this a trick question?” Chloé asked.

“I don’t know, is it?” Alya replied. “You don’t seem like the kind to go to museums.”

“Fine, you caught me,” she rolled her eyes. “I somehow figured out exactly where you were going to be, and decided to spend my precious time with you two instead of relaxing at home. Because that’s the only reason I would be at this ridiculous museum full of dusty old relics.”

“When you put it that way...” Marinette admitted.

“Exactly,” she glared.

When Alya started to say ‘fine but don’t start anything’, Chloé just rolled her eyes. Instead of listening, she focused on the fact that Adrien had just walked in the hall. She waved him over, and he just grinned as if he couldn’t notice the tension in the room.

“Hey,” Adrien said. “Didn’t expect you two to be here. Not that it’s a bad thing! Just a pleasant surprise.”

“Glad to see you too,” Marinette said. “I would’ve invited you, but Alya dragged me here last minute, ranting about information on Lady Luck.”

“I got a tip on the Luckyblog,” Alya elaborated. “Someone said the Egypt exhibit here had some clues.”

“Who left the comment?” Chloé asked.

“No idea,” she shrugged. “Internet, usernames, you know. They go by ‘Wonderland’ though, so who knows.”

That was odd. Perhaps someone had just noticed something interesting and sent it in. But considering that Tikki had been pretty insistent on visiting the museum, there was the possibility that this ‘Wonderland’ person knew more.

“You know,” Adrien began. “Since we’re all here to check out the same exhibit, why not go together?”

All three girls glanced at one another, then back to him. Chloé knew he wasn’t that oblivious, but just very hopeful.

“As long as she doesn’t-” Alya started.

“Sure,” Chloé cut her off. “Whatever.”

Before anyone said anything else, Chloé got up and walked into the exhibit. The other three lapsed into their own conversation. Especially once Marinette noticed Adrien’s new earrings.

She was trying. She really was trying to at least not be a jerk. And sure, they were justified in being suspicious of her, thinking she’d try to start something. But it was frustrating enough to have a ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say, then shut the fuck up’ mentality when everyone expected her to start something.

And if she was being honest with herself, she wasn’t entirely sure that her current strategy was what she wanted anymore. It had been her idea at first, something to help Adrien and also maybe a little because how much both he and Tikki believed in her made her feel kinda guilty. Especially since she figured any attempts at real change wouldn’t get accepted.

After the last few weeks though, seeing how different it was when she was Lady Luck, it didn’t seem like enough. The way Alya had talked to her during an interview, loving her every second, even when she slipped and said something a bit too snarky. Even Marinette, who helped out with the blog sometimes, had been interested in her. Everyone cheered when she swung by. It was nice.

Shaking her head, she tried to focus. There was something in this exhibit that was connected to Lady Luck. The original plan was to have Tikki guide her, but now there were too many people. She wondered if that Magic sense trick could work.

She picked a spot to stand still, since she could only ‘see’ Magic energy, she didn’t want to walk right into a wall. Or worse an ancient artifact. Then she tried to feel out which object was connected.

That didn’t give her as much information as she hoped. Besides her, Adrien, and their respective Kwami, there were only three large points of Magic in the room. One was Marinette, of course. Alya was another.

The third was a large statue. But investigating it showed very little. At least not without translating the hieroglyphics.

Sighing, she looked to the rest of group. They were all looking at an ancient papyrus. Once more, the hieroglyphics made no sense to her. She was sure there would be someone in this place who could tell her about it.

Speaking of, two men had entered the room. And she recognized one. She’d met Mr. Kubdel a few times. Sometimes when he had to come into the school because of Alix, but more often it was at various events relating to the museum. Events Chloé had to attend since she was the Mayor’s daughter.

The other man was obviously related. Alix had mentioned an older brother before, hadn’t she? Jalil, right? She’s pretty sure it was Jalil.

Chloé was about to catch their attention and ask about the hieroglyphics, but it looked like they were heading to that particular exhibit anyway.

“I’m telling you, father,” Jalil said, practically shoving Marinette out of the way to gesture at the papyrus. “There, as you know, the one with the scepter is Tutankhamun, the first. And there, opposite is Nefertiti, his princess. There are exactly one hundred mummies beside them. She died several years before him, and the Sun God, Ra, took her as his Goddess.”

“Yes, I know all that,” Mr. Kubdel sighed, adjusting his scarf. “I’m the director of this exhibition, remember?”

“Then you also know,” he continued, gesturing with his glasses this time, “that Tutankhamun wanted to bring his princess back to life by offering the Sun God a new wife. This seemed to illustrate the ritual he devised. Nobody has ever fully deciphered the hieroglyphics, but I have! It’s a magical chant that needs to be recited in order to complete the ritual! I’m sure of it!”

“Hm,” Marinette mused, turning to Alya. “He kinda reminds me of someone else with crazy ideas. You!”

“You might think my theories about Lady Luck are crazy,” Alya laughed. “But you watch, girl. I’ll prove you wrong!”

“Jalil,” Mr. Kubdel sighed again. “These types of frescoes are almost always the illustration for a legend. They call it a legend for a reason.”

Mr. Kubdel started to walk away, but Jalil went after and caught his arm.

“That’s what everyone thinks!” Jalil said. “But I know it’s real. I can prove it!”

“Really?” Mr. Kubdel wondered, skepticism obvious in his voice. “Exactly how are you going to prove it?”

“I just need to get my hands on Tutankhamun’s scepter and recite the spell!” he answered, walking over to said object.

Jalil reached for the scepter, but Mr. Kubdel snatched his hand away. Exasperation had become anger, and honestly the four teens in the room were really hoping they could quickly get out of this awkward scenario.

“Are you serious?” Mr. Kubdel snapped. “Don’t even think of touching that scepter! I’d lose my job on the spot! It’s a priceless historical object! Not a toy!”

“Come on, dad!” Jalil insisted, oblivious to the obvious mood as he followed him out of the room. “We have to try out the spell! What if Tutankhamun had found out how to bring people back to life?”

Chloé decided not to point out that, well, Jalil had some of a point. If there was Magic jewelry that gave people superpowers, among various other Magics, why couldn’t there be something to bring people back to life?

“Adrien, are you okay?” Marinette asked.

Looking over, Chloé could see him lost in thought. And not the good kind. Didn’t take a genius to figure out where his mind went.

“Bringing back the dead only works on the dead,” Chloé said.

“Right, yeah,” Adrien swallowed.

“Are you okay?” Marinette asked again.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “I wouldn’t want to mess with resurrection stuff anyway. That’s a good way to lose some limbs.”

The way Marinette and Alya stared at him with slight concern made it obvious that they had no clue what he was talking about. Chloé was about to call him a weeb again, but there was a sudden scream behind her.

The quartet turned toward the entrance to see a guy walk in. He looked like one of the statues come to life. Tall and muscular, with skin that looked as if it were made of ebony, and glowing blue eyes. He wore various golden jewelry and a Pharaoh’s mask.

Goddamn it. Stupid Akumas.

“Hey, you!” a museum employee shouted, rushing to confront him.

“Thoth, give me time!” The Pharaoh shouted.

His mask glowed, changing into a baboon. He put his hands together, and summoned golden bubbles. It trapped the employee, causing him to slow to a crawl. Several others got caught in bubbles, and were tossed out of the room.

Marinette grabbed Alya and Adrien, pulling them down to avoid a bubble. Adrien dragged Chloé with them.

Of course, Alya couldn’t stay still for long, getting out her phone and running to find a better angle to film.

“Alya, hide!” Marinette exclaimed.

“Is she suicidal?” Chloé demanded.

“Kinda brave,” Adrien said.

“If by ‘brave’ you mean bossy, feisty, and bold?” Marinette asked. “Yup, that’s her.”

“Again, I’d add suicidal onto that,” Chloé muttered.

As Marinette chased after Alya, Chloé and Adrien sneaked the other way. Once out in the hall, they nodded to each other.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

Lady Luck and Chat Noir ran back in, ducking under the closing security gate. While they’d been transforming, the Pharaoh had stolen both the scepter and the papyrus. Well. If that didn’t make it obvious who the Akuma of the day was, she didn’t know what would.

“It’s not nice to steal,” Lady Luck quipped.

“Actually,” The Pharaoh corrected, “I’m taking back what belongs to me!”

“Really?” she tilted her head in mock innocence. “Because I’m pretty sure you’re not actually a Pharaoh.”

“Maybe don't point that out right now,” Chat added, spinning his baton.

Lady Luck looked to the side, seeing both Marinette and Alya hiding, with Alya still recording and commentating. She waved to them, and watched Alya fangirl. Marinette didn’t get quite as excited, but still enjoyed the attention from her hero. Especially when Chat waved too.

She threw her yoyo at the Pharaoh, only for him to catch it. Oops. Before she could think to yank it back, she was being swung into Chat and thrown against a wall.

“Please tell me you can edit that out of the video,” Lady Luck muttered, mostly to herself.

“Even Lady Luck isn’t that lucky,” Chat said, pushing her off of him.

“Hey!” Alya screamed. “Hands off the threads!”

As the heroes pulled themselves up, they saw the Pharaoh slinging Alya over his shoulder and starting to walk out. Marinette tried to help, leaping on the Akuma and attempting to drag him down. But he was too strong, easily lifting her off of him.

“Sekhmet, give me your strength!” The Pharaoh shouted.

His face glowed again, this time becoming a lioness. He threw her across the room, and Chat sprinted to catch her. They tumbled back into a sarcophagus, knocking it over and closing the lid on top of them.

Lady Luck ran after the Akuma, thinking for a moment ‘at least he’s trapped in here’. Of course that jinxed her, as he just bent the bars, walked out, and bent them back into shape. Great. Now she was the one trapped.

“And remember,” Alya said, slightly nervous as she was carried off. “All the latest behind-the-scenes are on my blog!”

Lady Luck tugged on the bars, despite knowing that it wouldn’t really do much. She was about to ask for a Cataclysm, but realized Chat was still trapped. Slightly concerned about how he hadn't managed to get out yet, she ran back to the sarcophagus.

It took a few good tugs to open the lid. When she did, she found the pair very cozy looking. Chat’s tail had even found itself wrapped around Marinette’s waist.

“Well then,” Lady Luck smirked. “If you two are done playing ‘seven minutes in heaven’, I need my cat back.”

“We-we weren’t-” they both stammered.

It was hard to tell which one of them was blushing harder, but both were quickly reaching the same color as Lady Luck’s jacket.

Filing that away for later teasing material, Lady Luck helped them out of the box. While Chat seemed fine, Marinette winced as her ankle hit the floor, almost collapsing into him.

“You okay?” Chat asked.

“J-just my ankle,” Marinette said. “Thank me for saving you. I mean! Thank you for saving me! That-that’s what I meant! I- why am I stuttering?”

“You are in the presence of heroes,” Lady Luck grinned. “Speaking of, we need to get out of here and figure out where that freak of the week took your friend. Chat, think you can take care of the bars?”

“One Cataclysm, coming up,” he grinned.

Marinette tried to follow them, but she tripped right into Chat again. He helped her, at least convincing her to sit down.

“I don’t think you should be walking on that ankle,” Lady Luck said. “Don’t worry, once we defeat the Akuma, my power should fix it.”

“Fine,” Marinette agreed. “But Alya, she should still be recording. It’s a livestream to her blog. If you check that, you should be able to find out where they’re going.”

That was pretty clever. While Chat took care of the bars, Lady Luck pulled out her yoyo. She’d tested out some things and found that the weapon also functioned as a smartphone. Sure enough, the Luckyblog was up and running, with Alya still commentating over her kidnapping.

There was a loud clang as the gate fell open. Chat grinned back at them, obviously showing off. Oh boy she was going to tease him about that as soon as they had time.

“You figure out where she is?” Chat asked.

“Yeah,” Lady Luck said. “You can recharge on the way.”

“Right,” he winced, glancing at his ring before looking back to Marinette. “Stay here and stay safe, okay?”

“O-okay,” Marinette replied, her face still red.

“Come on,” Lady Luck said, practically dragging Chat out. “You can check up on her after.”

Once they were out of sight, Chat detransformed. While Plagg took his snack break, Adrien and Lady Luck watched the livestream in her yoyo.

The Pharaoh was outside, causing a panic. As one does. He dropped Alya on the ground for a moment, but looked ready to grab her if she tried to run.

“Anubis, bring me mummies!” he shouted.

His face changed again, this time a jackal. Beams of light shot from his eyes, transforming random civilians into mummies. Minions to do his bidding. Great. That was new.

Alya got up, but instead of running, she tapped the Pharaoh on the shoulder. Lady Luck upped her assessment of her from ‘suicidal’ to ‘fucking nuts’.

“Uh, excuse me, Pharaoh, but what exactly is going on?” Alya asked.

“I’m going to carry out the secret spell!” The Pharaoh replied. “To bring Nefertiti back!”

“Gotcha,” she nodded, swinging the camera around to get good shots of everything. “You’re talking about the spell on the papyrus, right?”

“Correct!” he said. “The one hundered mummies and the offering!”

“Offering?” she repeated. “What offering?”

Lady Luck and Adrien exchanged a worried glance. For a few reasons in Lady Luck’s case. She hoped Alya was asking for her audience, and not because she hadn’t connected the dots.

“To persuade the Sun God Ra to give me my sweet princess,” The Pharaoh explained, “I must give him something in return! A pure soul!”

“Dude, that’s hard to come by,” Alya chuckled.

“But I’ve already found her,” he said, tilting Alya’s face up to him. “You look so much like her.”

Oh boy. That made things a bit complicated.

“Yikes,” Lady Luck said. “You ready to go?”

“Absolutely,” Adrien said. “Plagg, Claws out!”

A flash of light later, and Chat Noir was back in action. They ran out, keeping Lady Luck’s yoyo open and tuned to the Luckyblog, just in case something happened.

They were going to run outside, but after seeing all of the mummies lined up, the roof seemed like a much better idea. It gave them a good lookout point too. Along with a moment to catch their breath and check the blog again.

“Whoa, back up!” Alya said, focusing the camera on one section of the papyrus. “Who’s that goddess chick with the black spots?”

“Ladybug, my sworn enemy!” The Pharaoh answered. “My nemesis may have kept me from carrying out my ritual five thousand years ago, but she will not stop Nefertiti from coming back this time!”

“Did you say a Ladybug hero from five thousand years ago?!” she gasped.

That was kind of surprising. Was that what Tikki had wanted them to find in the exhibit? Someone had wielded the Ladybug Miraculous thousands of years ago?

“Huh,” Chat mused. “Well, you don’t look a day over four hundred and fifty.”

“You are banned,” Lady Luck replied. “That’s the second reference you’ve made today!”

“Oh come on,” he said. “You’re the one who-”

“I don’t care what you have to say about my hairstyle choice!” she snapped. “That doesn’t mean you can just-”

While they’d been bickering, the Pharaoh had started up the ritual. A beam of light shot into the sky, and darkness began to spread. How that worked, she had no idea.But she was not enjoying the feeling of that energy it radiated. 

“Let’s get back to that later,” Lady Luck said. “You deal with the mummies while I take on the Pharaoh.”

“Why do I have to be the distraction all the time?” Chat asked.

“Because I have to capture the Butterfly,” she replied. “Plus, I’m older than you.”

She stuck her tongue out at him before using her yoyo to swing away. Finding a good spot to wait, she watched as Chat leaped into the fray. He was good, using his lampposts to keep the distance.

Soon enough, the only mummies left were the ones carrying Alya. Lady Luck took the chance, swinging across and grabbing her. And while she had to play it cool, she loved the grin on Alya’s face as she clung tighter to her.

As soon as she set Alya down on the opposite roof, the camera was in her face. Lady Luck just put on her best smile.

“You’ve just witnessed another insane feat from Lady Luck!” Alya commentated. “Thanks for saving my a- er, butt.”

“You’re welcome,” Lady Luck grinned. “But it’s not over yet. I still have to-”

“You still have to destroy the pendant containing the Butterfly,” she filled in. “And turn everything back to normal! I pay attention.””

“The pendant,” she mused, remembering seeing it on the Akuma. “Good catch.”

Alya started to say something, but Lady Luck didn’t hear it. From the fact that she was now being thrown from the building, she guessed it was probably a ‘look out!’.

Lady Luck spun in midair, catching herself with her yoyo just before hitting the ground. Looking back up, she saw the Pharaoh with the face of a falcon, now flying above. That had to be cheating.

He threw something off the roof, and she caught it. It was Alya’s phone, of course. Giving one more wave to the camera, she tucked it into her belt. While Alya was carried off, still screaming for help, Lady Luck found herself surrounded by mummies.

Having seen them fight Chat earlier, she found them almost laughably easy to outwit. They would just try to follow and grab her. As long as she kept running they wouldn’t do much. So she sprinted back toward Chat Noir.

Of course he wasn’t having nearly as much luck. The mummies had him cornered, and a number of them were attempting to throw a car on him. She threw her yoyo around his ankle and dragged him out of the way.

“Thanks for the save,” Chat said as she helped him up.

“You’re welcome,” Lady Luck replied. “Come on, I have an idea.”

Making sure all the mummies were following them, Lady Luck sprinted to a nearby tour bus and went in while Chat went under. As soon as they all filed in the front door, she jumped out the back. Chat quickly toppled the thing, trapping them all inside.

“Nice one,” Lady Luck laughed.

“We still need to save Alya,” Chat pointed out.

“I think it might be time for some powers,” she said. “Lucky Charm!”

The object that materialized was far smaller than her previous Lucky Charms. Small enough t fit in the palm of her hand. It looked like a necklace. No, a replica of the pendant that the Pharaoh wore.

Lady Luck eyed how far Alya was from the circle of darkness. She had to think fast with this, but her only idea involved getting close to the Pharaoh. Something he seemed very intent on avoiding.

“Chat, I have a crazy idea but I need you to work with me,” Lady Luck said.

“I think that’s how this entire friendship works,” Chat deadpanned.

After tucking the Lucky Charm into her shirt, the two ran forward toward the Akuma. His face glowed and became a jackal again, the obvious intention to be to turn them into more minions.

“You will not stop me from bringing Nerfertiti back!” The Pharaoh shouted.

“Oh, I don’t intend to,” Lady Luck replied, dodging a beam.

“What?” he asked.

“What?!” Chat demanded in a harsh whisper.

She could hear Alya shouting, begging her not to actually let her be sacrificed. Lady Luck just looked up at her with a smile. Then she turned her attention back to The Pharaoh.

“See, I want Alya to be okay,” Lady Luck said. “But I get it. You want to bring your girl back. So here’s the deal. You can sacrifice me instead! Think of it as revenge for trying to stop you before!”

“It is true that you make a much more precious offering than this mortal,” the Pharaoh admitted.

“Seriously?” Alya shouted. “Excuse you, but I make excellent sacrificing material!”

The Pharaoh offered his hand, and Lady Luck took it. His face changed back to a falcon, and the pair began to fly up to the beam of light. He pushed Alya out, and she slid down the pyramid, thankfully unharmed.

While the Pharaoh was distracted with her, Lady Luck pulled on his pendant, the chain snapping. She quickly swapped it for the one in her shirt.

“Hey!” the Pharaoh shouted. “Give that back!”

“You want it?” Lady Luck grinned. “Go get it!”

She threw the Lucky Charm, thankful that he hadn’t noticed the color difference. He dropped her into the beam of light before diving down after it. Even though the light was sending all sorts of danger signals through her, Lady Luck brought out the pendant.

She snapped it in half, releasing the butterfly. The beam stopped, dropping her again. As she slid down the pyramid, she threw her yoyo and captured the butterfly.

“See you around, little butterfly,” Lady Luck said.

After retrieving her Lucky Charm and using that good old ‘fix everything’ spell, all that was left was to return Alya’s phone. She walked back to where Alya had landed, Chat joining her on the way.

“Thanks, Lady Luck,” Alya said, taking her phone back. “But, I still gotta ask: How old are you, really?”

“Older than him,” Lady Luck replied, pointing to Chat.

“This again,” Chat rolled his eyes. “You’re just mad that I’m taller than you.”

“That has nothing to do with anything!” she retorted. “You only got taller than me recently! I’ve always been older!”

“Hm...” he mused. “Considering your thing about your hair, and now getting upset at-”

“Chat I swear if you finish that thought I’m throwing you back in the sarcophagus!” she snapped. “Maybe I should do it anyway! After all, you still have six minutes left, right?”

“That’s- we didn’t-!” he sputtered, his face turning red.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alya said. “But I’m pretty sure you have less than six minutes.”

As she said that, both Miraculous beeped. Giving each other a panicked look, Lady Luck and Chat Noir gave a quick goodbye before sprinting back into the museum.

The place had emptied out, most people having run outside to either watch the ‘show’ or get out of dodge. Either way, it gave them plenty of space to detransform.

“So,” Chloé mused as the Kwami reappeared. “Since we’re not five thousand years old, I’m guessing you two are?”

“What do you think?” Plagg asked.

“You don’t look five thousand,” Adrien said. “Or act like it.”

“Well we’re not,” Tikki said before Plagg could retort. “We’re older than that! Kwamis and Heroes have existed since the very beginning.”

“Literally,” Plagg said. “She’s existed since the idea of ‘creation’ first existed. Same with me and ‘destruction’. So pretty much since the beginning of everything.”

“I’m going to need a few minutes for that to sink in,” Chloé sighed. “I mean I figured you were probably a few centuries old since you’re, you know, Magic and all that. But ‘since the dawn of time’ is not what I expected.”

“Technically since before the dawn of time,” he corrected. “There is a Kwami of Time and we’re older than her.”

Chloé and Adrien shared a look. That was a lot of information to process but neither really wanted to unpack all that right now. Tikki laughed a little before patting Chloé on the head.

“So that’s why you wanted us to come to the museum,” Chloé guessed.

“Somewhat,” Tikki answered. “I know you worry about being Lady Luck, because of what kind of person you’ve been. But I want to tell you that there have been so many people to use the Ladybug Miraculous, and every one of them is different.”

“Bet there were some better ones than me,” she said. “But thanks.”

“I told you,” she said. “You don’t have to be anyone but you.”

Chloé gave a soft smile. That did help, a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points if you guess who 'Wonderland' is. 
> 
> Also can I ask myself why the fuck I'm doing this when I can't write fight scenes??


	6. Lady Wifi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is one of those episodes that I usually shout about for certain things. Because Boi. You brought this on your own damn self.

Chloé dropped her bag on the floor. She debated about ordering lunch, but honestly it was still a bit early for that. She should still be at school, but after this morning’s drama? No. She did not want to deal with class after all that.

“Are you okay?” Tikki asked, hovering near her face.

“Fine,” Chloé huffed. “Just a headache.”

Hopefully watching something would make her feel better. She turned on the tv and sat on her couch. Nothing helps a headache like finding something to binge on netflix.

Just as she was reconsidering ordering lunch, her phone rang. A glance at the screen told her Adrien was calling. Odd. He should still be in class. She tapped the pickup button.

“Hello?” Chloé said.

“Hey,” Adrien said. “I heard something about you trying to get Alya expelled and I’m sure there’s a misunderstanding here.”

“Not really,” she said. “Stupid principal only suspended her.”

“I thought we agreed that you’d try to be nicer?” he sighed.

“The hell was I supposed to do?” she asked. “The bitch broke into my locker!”

There was a pause on the other end. It gave Chloé enough time to feel some guilt over the situation. She had been starting to like Alya. Even if Alya hated ‘Chloé’, it was hard to hate her back when Alya loved ‘Lady Luck’. But this was… she didn’t even know.

“Alya broke into her locker?” Adrien asked, very obviously holding the phone away from his face to ask someone else.

“Technically the locker was open?” Nino’s voice answered.

“Why would Alya do that?” Marinette’s voice wondered.

“Put me on speakerphone!” Chloé demanded.

There was a beep from the phone and she assumed that was the signal to go ahead.

“Listen up, clown boy,” Chloé growled.

“Can we not bring up Bubbler right now?” Nino sighed.

“It has nothing to do with Bubbler, just you acting like a fool,” she said. “I don’t know how I have to explain this to you, but she was caught taking pictures of the inside of my locker! And our stupid principal tried to say that ‘there’s no school policy on invasion of privacy’. Which is total bullshit, by the way!”

“You still shouldn’t get someone expelled over something petty,” Marinette said.

“Petty?!” she shouted. “I bet you wouldn’t think it was petty if I broke into your locker to take pictures of all your stuff! I don’t even know what she was trying to do? Steal something? Find blackmail material? For all I know she’s only pretending to hate me and is actually some creepy stalker!”

“Alya wouldn’t do that!” she insisted.

“And how do you know?” she retorted. “Honestly, she’s lucky I only wanted her expelled! I could’ve called the cops on her and clown boy!”

“Why Nino?” Adrien asked.

“He was in on her plan,” she said. “He was supposed to distract me so Alya could take her pictures. Lucky for me, Sabrina and Kim caught them.”

“Wait,” Marinette said. “What do you mean he was in on it?”

There was another moment of silence on the other side. She could guess that Adrien and Marinette were staring at him, waiting for an explanation.

“You know how Alya gets,” Nino defended.

“Okay,” Adrien sighed. “Why did she break into Chloé’s locker?”

“She kinda thinks that Chloé might be Lady Luck?” he answered.

Oh boy. That made Chloé’s stomach drop. Adrien probably felt the same, since he wasn’t responding. She looked over at Tikki, who was listening in and giving her a worried look.

“Why the hell would she think that?” Marinette asked. "It's crazy."

“Complicated?” Nino answered. “She said she saw Chloé take Lady Luck’s yoyo out of her locker yesterday. And when Alya gets a hunch about anything related to our heroes...”

“You chucklefucks realize you could’ve asked me?” Chloé said. “And don’t for a minute think that makes everything okay. Like, yes, she wasn’t trying to steal something or whatever. But do you have any idea-”

There was a surge of energy, and the phone started glowing pink. Chloé screamed, tossing it across the room and flipping over the back of the couch.

The glow solidified into a person. An Akuma that was very obviously Alya. As Chloé ran, she made a mental note to criticize the fact that both female Akumas had only gotten a costume change while the males had all been transformed completely.

She only made it to the next room before her arm was yanked back. Not by the Akuma herself, but by a pink pause icon, which thankfully only froze her arm in place. Oh boy this was going to be a weird one.

“Well, hello there, Lady Luck,” the Akuma grinned.

“Hey,” Chloé gave a nervous grin. “Don’t suppose you have a name?

“Call me Lady Wifi,” she said.

Lady Wifi made another pink icon appear. This time it was a camera, likely broadcasting to the Luckyblog.

“Hey there,” Lady Wifi addressed her audience. “Everyone thinks the girl beneath the Lady Luck costume is a little angel. Think again, people! The real Lady Luck is… Chloé Bourgeois, everyone!”

“Really, I’m flattered,” Chloé said, trying to tug her arm out of the pause icon. “Lady Luck is very wonderful and quite beautiful. But as much as I’d love to take credit, you should try again.”

“Come on,” she scoffed. “I already know it’s you. Don’t play innocent now!”

“I’m not,” she said. “In fact, I’m doing the exact opposite. Lady Luck is a Hero. She’s such a good person, saving everyone, giving you interviews even though you’re just some nobody teenager with a camera phone that breaks into your classmate's locker on a 'hunch'. Did you really think I could be Lady Luck? Me, the jerk, the bully, ‘daddy’s girl’? Someone who, just a few weeks ago, you called ‘evil’?”

Lady Wifi hesitated, seeming to admit that what Chloé said made sense. And while that was exactly what she was going for, Chloé tried to hide that it hurt to see how easily her mind changed.

“No, you have to be Lady Luck!” Lady Wifi said, walking over and digging through Chloé’s purse. “See! You have her yoyo!”

“Oh, that,” Chloé giggled. “I can explain that! And use you as advertising! If you’d just kindly unpause me?”

“I don’t think so,” she glared.

“Come on,” she smiled. “If I was really Lady Luck, then you have my yoyo. I wouldn’t be able to do anything, now would I?”

Lady Wifi looked her over, clearly skeptical. Ultimately, she tapped her phone and the pause button was taken away. Shaking some feeling back into her arm, Chloé walked over to a panel in her closet. It opened, revealing a shelf of items.

“The yoyo you found is a prototype,” Chloé explained.

“A prototype?” Lady Wifi parroted. “A prototype for what?”

“Merchandise, of course!” she chirped. “See, I realized how many people would want toys of our wonderful Heroes. That yoyo is just a toy. I have a toy of Chat Noir’s baton as well. Along with replica Miraculous jewelry and costumes! The action figures are taking a bit longer, but I insisted on decent joint articulation!”

To demonstrate, she picked up the baton and handed it to Lady Wifi for inspection. It was well made, but definitely a toy. Pressing the paw print would extend the baton to double it’s length, but no more than that.

“It would be pretty hard for me to do this if I was Lady Luck,” Chloé said. “Especially since I had to ask Lady Luck and Chat Noir for permission.”

“Permission?” Lady Wifi asked.

“Copyright issues,” she shrugged. “Lady Luck and Chat Noir came by to talk to my dad, you know, the mayor? Anyway, while they were here I asked them about merchandising, and promised them their own cut of the profits since I was using their images.”

“How does that work?” she wondered. “I doubt they have a bank account. Or did they set up a paypal?”

“Not quite,” she replied. “Lady Luck and Chat Noir, being the amazing and selfless Heroes that they are, told me to give their share of the profit to charity. A win for everyone involved.”

Lady Wifi was thinking that over, seeming to almost believe that. It was just enough of a distraction that she didn’t notice Chat Noir until he kicked in the balcony door.

“Sorry to bust your news story,” Chat said. “Next time, you should double check your facts!”

“Oh, Chat Noir, my dear hero!” Chloé said, trying to keep the sarcasm from her voice. “Where’s Lady Luck?”

“She’s running a bit late,” he said. “She told me to head over while she finishes up on the other side of town.”

Adrien was a surprisingly good liar, when he had to be. Chloé had to keep herself from asking why he didn’t use that skill more often. That conversation could happen later, as Lady Wifi seemed to only get more and more upset.

“News flash!” Lady Wifi shouted. “Chat Noir, Let’s find out who you really are!”

She threw more pink icons at him, but Chat just dodged around. Sliding past her, he ran out the door and down the hallway.

“Get back here!” Lady Wifi roared, giving chase.

Chloé moved to follow them, but was tugged back. Damn it. When did her arm get frozen again? At least the camera icon had dissipated. No more broadcasting.

“Tikki, where’d you go?” Chloé asked.

“I’m still here,” Tikki answered, flying back up to her. “Are you okay?”

“Other than being stuck here, I’m fantastic,” she said. “Any ideas on getting me unstuck?”

“I’m not sure,” she answered, poking at the pause button. “Her Magic is tied to modern technology, and I still need to catch up on how all of it works. But Magic is Magic. Cut off her Source, and she’ll be powerless.”

“Source,” she mused. “Lady ‘Wifi’. Got it. Think a Lucky Charm could get me out for now?”

“Maybe,” she said. “If it doesn’t, then detransform before she gets back.”

“Tikki, Spots On!”

Just in case, Lady Luck tried tugging her arm free again. Of course if didn’t budge. Rolling her eyes, she tried her next choice.

“Lucky Charm!”

Something light was dropped into her hand. A piece of paper? No, the way it sounded as she crinkled it was very metallic.

“Tin foil?” Lady Luck wondered. “I swear if this actually works...”

She carefully wrapped the sheet around her arm, making sure to cover as much as possible. Just when it looked like it wasn’t doing anything, the pause icon wavered before fizzling out entirely.

Never before had she really given credit to the ‘tin foil hat’ people, but at least they were right about how to block signals. Making sure her hand wouldn’t freeze again, she stuffed the tin foil into her belt.

Lady Luck ran out the door, following a trail of pink icons. They led her to the stairwell, though since no sounds of battle echoed, she guessed the fight ended up on another floor. It was far quicker to lower herself with the yoyo than it was to actually run down the stairs.

The doors to the next few floors all had lock icons. Except for one. Likely a trap, but if it was, then Chat had already sprung it. Cautiously, she followed.

Chat Noir and Lady Wifi were fighting in the restaurant. There were phones scattered on the tables, with Lady Wifi teleporting between them. Though Chat had managed so far, it was difficult to dodge when she kept moving randomly.

“Hey!” Lady Luck shouted, using her yoyo to smash a few phones. “I thought it was me you were after?!”

Oh boy. She’d been right about how difficult dodging would be. A few more phones turned to broken circuitry, and Lady Wifi had nowhere to run! Metaphorically, at least. Since she sprinted into the kitchen.

Lady Luck gave chase, already formulating a plan. The kitchen was probably the best option. She had to duck as a lock icon was thrown her way. Only Chat was left locked out. Oh well. He would have to find his own way in.

She dodged around Lady Wifi, not even bothering trying to catch her. She just had to last until Chat got in. If only her opponent wasn’t so intent on backing her into the corner.

Against this wall, she could hear the service elevator straining, as if it were carrying something a little too heavy. Perfect. That was Lady Luck’s cue to dive past Lady Wifi and into the freezer. It was only when she realized how cold it was in here that she thought maybe this wasn’t the best idea.

She hit the back wall, and suddenly she couldn’t move her arm. At least it was the right one this- and there was the left one. Both locked in place at the side of her head by pink icons.

Lady Wifi approached, putting up a camera icon.

“Who is Lady Luck?” Lady Wifi said into the camera. “Is she a Superhero or a super-weirdo? How can we trust the girl when we have no idea who she really is? We have a right to know!”

She began pulling at Lady Luck’s mask, yet the thing wouldn’t budge. Lady Luck had to keep from swearing because damn it that hurt! It was worse than ripping off duct tape!

“Why doesn’t it come off?” Lady Wifi demanded.

“Magic?” Lady Luck guessed.

“Well then,” she said, turning Lady Luck’s head to the side. “Looks like I’ll just have to wait. Your spots are down to three.”

Damn it. She should’ve recharged before heading down.

“Wow,” Chat said, slipping out of the service elevator. “You know I’m a sucker for the old ‘pinning your rival to a wall’ trope. You want me to give you your turn for ‘seven minutes in heaven’?”

“Please,” Lady Luck scoffed. “If this were a romantic thing, I’d be pinning her! Whatever! Just close the door!”

Both he and Lady Wifi gave her a look, the latter looking mildly flustered by that idea.

“I was joking!” Chat exclaimed, mildly offended.

“I’m joking about the romance thing,” Lady Luck replied. “But I still need you to close the door!”

He gave her a look, but ultimately slammed the freezer door shut. Lady Wifi had been too caught up in other thoughts to even think about running out, which was fine as far as Lady Luck was concerned.

“Whatever,” Lady Wifi said, facing the camera icon again. “Don’t blink! I hear ladybugs don’t do too well in cold weather!”

Lady Luck grinned, bracing her foot against the wall as she waited for what was coming. The moment the pink icons fizzled out, she pushed off the wall, tackling Lady Wifi. She knocked her over, rolling upright against the door.

“How did you-” Lady Wifi tried to ask.

“You know what else doesn’t do well in a cold freezer?” Lady Luck asked. “Wifi signals. A bit hard to get through all that cold metal!”

Lady Wifi fanatically tried to throw more icons at her, but they all fizzled out the moment she tried. Without that, it was laughably easy to wrestle the phone from her hand and smash it against the ground.

Even the Butterfly didn’t put up much of a fight, though it might have more to do with the frost on its wings. Poor thing. She’d let it wait in the safety of the yoyo for a minute while she used the ‘fix-it spell’. Okay, she was not expecting magic tin foil to be so cold when she threw it.

“Chat, open the door,” Lady Luck said.

“You two done?” Chat asked barely cracking the door to look in.

“Fine,” she said, opening her yoyo. “See you around, little Butterfly.”

“What?” Alya groaned, shaking her head before zeroing in on the heroes. “Lady Luck! Wow! And Chat Noir! Can I get a quick interview? Just let me grab my phone!”

“No,” Lady Luck said.

“What?” she asked. “But-”

“Sorry,” Chat intervened. “Lady Luck only has another minute before detransforming, so she should probably get going.”

“Not like it’ll matter,” Lady Luck said. “You’ll just follow me out, won’t you? Always have to get your big scoop! Actually, Chat, keep her here while I leave.”

Lady Luck turned on her heel and walked out. There was an urge to do something. Anything. To stay and scream. To run away. To just- just stop everything for a little while. To go back to when she didn’t have to worry about this sort of thing.

The Miraculous beeped again. Instead of risking someone seeing her, Lady Luck slipped into a supply closet. Despite the whole issue being over her identity, she’d really been cutting it close, hadn’t she? That was a problem when emotion got in the way of doing her job.

“Are you okay?” Tikki asked as she reappeared.

“I don’t know,” Chloé shook her head. “I feel… justified in everything I did today. From the locker situation to turning Alya down for an interview after all this. But with how I’ve been before, is this actually justified or am I just being a brat about it?”

“The locker thing was a little harsh,” she admitted. “But she did do something wrong and you have a right to be upset by that.”

“I guess,” she sighed. “Honestly, when I found out she was doing it to get proof of me being Lady Luck, I felt like I wasn’t been harsh enough. I mean, what if we hadn’t caught her? What if she took a picture of the yoyo in my bag and posted it as ‘proof’?”

“I know,” she said. “But maybe you should tell Alya that herself. She’s still young, and might not realize how bad things could have gotten.”

“Right,” she said.

“You’re young too, you know,” she said. “You’re allowed to mess up and be emotional. That’s not just a ‘young’ thing though. That’s a ‘Human’ thing.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Chloé stepped out of the supply closet just in time to see reddish-brown hair turn the corner down the hall. Taking one last breath to calm herself, she ran after her.

“Alya!” Chloé shouted. “I need to talk to you!”

Alya glanced back, but instead of stopping she walked faster.

“Get back here!” Chloé shouted.

“Fuck off!” Alya shouted back.

“You want to play this the hard way?” she growled. “Fine! If you stop and listen to me, I’ll tell Principal Damocles to drop the suspension! Fully drop it, not even entered in your record!”

That got her attention. Alya slowed and stopped before whipping around, fury still plain on her face.

“You have two minutes,” Alya said.

Chloé nodded, recollecting herself. Trying to figure out what exactly to say, she definitely wasted a good twenty seconds. Maybe thirty.

“You know,” Chloé sighed, more to herself. “I really shouldn’t have started with that when my whole point is going to be ‘you need to take responsibility for your actions’.”

“That’s rich, coming from you,” Alya scoffed. “You’re really getting this upset over-”

“Yes, yes I am,” she snapped. “I don’t know how to get through to you that taking pictures of the inside of my locker is incredibly invasive! And despite what the principal tries to say, does go against a number of rules! If you’re going to break the law in pursuit of journalism, you’re going to have to deal with a lot more consequences than just suspension!”

“Please,” she rolled her eyes. “You’ve done worse. Always using your family’s power to get your way, threatening whoever you want.”

“Just-ugh,” she groaned, reigning in the urge to literally smack some sense into her. “Fine. Forget about the fact that you were highly invasive and I have every right to be upset about that. Because I could forget about that in a few days. But you decided to endanger me and everyone I care about.”

“The hell are you talking about?” she demanded.

“I’m talking about you trying to ‘out me as Lady Luck’,” she said. “Do you have any idea what would have happened if you were right? If you had gotten enough proof to make it look like I were Lady Luck?”

“Everyone would know the real ‘Lady Luck’,” she answered. “I already know it’s not you. Even if I can’t remember what happened while I was Akumatized, Chat filled in the blanks. But come on. You can’t tell me miss ‘I want the entire world to bend to my will’ doesn’t want to know the secrets of our very own Superhero!”

“You are so short-sighted!” she snapped. “Yes, if I didn’t prove you wrong on live camera, everyone would think I was Lady Luck. Everyone, including Hawkmoth himself! Did you ever think of that?!”

“I-” she began.

“No, you didn’t,” she cut her off. “Too absorbed in getting an interesting story. But you would have put everyone I care about in the line of fire! Me, my dad, Adrien and Sabrina, their families! All of them would be Hawkmoth’s targets!”

“Well, I-” she tried to say.

“You’ve seen what Akumas can do,” she said. “Stoneheart could’ve easily crushed people and tore buildings apart! Stormy Weather summoned blizzards and electrocuted people! Bubbler sent everyone to die in space! And the Pharaoh almost sacrificed you to resurrect some goddess! But you still want to find out who the heroes are and post it everywhere? Putting them and their parents and siblings and friends right in the line of fire?”

Chloé paused, taking a moment to breathe. This was starting to slip away from her. If she continued, she might loop back into revealing her identity. For now, she took the shocked expression on Alya’s face as indication of a dawning realization.

More of a breaking of innocence. Seeing what she could’ve done. She could bet that Alya was imagining her own family, her own friends. What it’d be like if the Akumas came after them. How even if she tried to say it's not her fault, because she's not the Supervillain targeting them, she would feel all of that guilt. 

“Maybe Lady Luck is nicer than I am,” Chloé said. “Maybe she’ll realize you’re just a kid wanting to be a reporter, and you’re going to make stupid mistakes like not think about consequences, or break the law for a story, or just generally invade someone’s privacy and not realize that they’d be upset because ‘you’re just doing your job’. But that probably depends on what you do next.”

With that, she left. It was all she could do to make it back to her room without another explosion at someone. She half-expected Adrien to be up there, but it seemed like he’d just left a note for now.

Good. She was exhausted. It felt like all she did lately was flop onto her bed after a long day.

“You handled that fairly well,” Tikki said.

“If you say so,” Chloé muttered into a pillow. “Pretty sure someone else would’ve handled that a lot nicer.”

“True,” she said. “But while I would never say that being mean is necessary, one can be too nice. Someone else would’ve been nicer, but they wouldn’t have gotten the message through.”

Chloé nodded at that, sinking more into the mattress. That was probably the most difficult part of trying to be nice. Where is the line drawn? When does ‘kindness’ mean ‘becoming a doormat’? And when does ‘standing up for yourself’ become ‘mean’?

She must’ve fallen asleep, because next thing she knew it was dark out. Fumbling for her phone, she found it plugged in on the nightstand. Wait, hadn’t it been flung across the room? Tikki probably moved it for her.

Flinching at the bright light, Chloé checked the time. Yep. One in the morning. On one hand, she should go back to sleep and not mess up her sleep schedule. On the other hand, she needed a shower.

Reluctantly, she got up. At the very least she should take off her makeup and change into pajamas. Looking at her phone again, she made the dumb decision to check the Luckyblog instead.

There was a new post, mostly a summary of Lady Wifi. But that wasn’t what caught Chloé’s attention.

Last time, there had been a tab on the site to a page titled ‘Who Is Lady Luck?’, cataloging various shots of Lady Luck and the small hints to who she was. It had never been something she’d been worried about before, since things like ‘Lady Luck’s favorite cookie is peanutbutter chocolate chip’ weren’t going to reveal her any time soon.

Now though, the entire page was replaced with a giant question mark. The only caption was a somewhat-sarcastic ‘the world may never know!’.

Seems like someone learned her lesson. Which was something Lady Luck was very thankful for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: everyone's gay because why not.


	7. Copycat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I obviously have complicated feelings toward the Scarlet Lady comics, I do like that they called Théo out on his age. I make him look better here though with that.   
> Also the images sent are just jokes like what I do with the groupchat fics.

Chloé was pretty sure her ears were ringing. No. That was just her phone. Either way her head was pounding. She reached out of the cocoon of blankets for her phone, if only to shut the damn noise up. Of course it had to be the one person calling that she couldn’t ignore.

“Hello?” Chloé tried to say.

“Yikes,” Adrien’s voice responded. “I was going to ask if you were able to go to the statue unveiling, but that sounds like a hard no.”

“As much as I’d love to go to a ceremony dedicated to me,” she said. “I think I might actually be dying.”

“You’re not dying,” he said.

“You don’t know that,” she retorted. “For all you know I’m-”

Her dramatics were cut off by another round of coughing. And then a round of sneezing, followed by more coughing. She reached out to the bedside table for the box of tissues, blowing her nose before dumping them off the side into a quickly overflowing trash can.

“I’m not coming out today,” Chloé said. “Even if I thought I’d be able to stand the light and sound and standing up without getting dizzy, I look terrible. I can’t let people see me like this.”

“See you or see ‘you’?” Adrien asked.

“Both,” she said. “I’m a complete mess and should not be seen by the general public. And Lady Luck shouldn’t be seen as anything other than invincible. Coughing up a lung is not going to help that image.”

“Fair,” he said. “If you look as bad as you sound, then I’d say stay in too.”

“Fucker,” she said between another coughing fit.

“Seriously though,” he said. “What’s the plan on if someone gets Akumatized?”

“I’ll be fine,” she said. “Just call me and deal with the situation as best you can until I get there.”

“You sure?” he asked.

“If I can’t handle that, I shouldn’t be a Hero,” she said. “But if you really think I can’t handle it, may I remind you that you did go and get your ears pierced? ‘Lord Luck’ doesn’t have quite the same ring to it though.”

“If it gets that bad, I might,” he said. “Okay, I need to head over to the park. Get some rest, alright?”

“Yeah yeah,” she said. “That’s what I was doing before you called. I’m gonna take another dose of meds and hopefully knock myself out until this is over.”

She hit the end call button. Then she tried to drag herself out of bed and into the bathroom. Ugh. She hadn’t been kidding about how terrible she looked right now, but seeing herself in the mirror was not helping.

Okay, no more looking in the mirror. That’d only make her depressed. She grabbed the cold medicine from the counter and took a decent swig. The taste was disgusting, but she managed to keep it down.

“How are you feeling?” Tikki asked, pressing her paw against Chloé’s forehead.

“Like death,” she answered. “You should probably keep your distance if you don’t want to get sick. Wait. You’re Magic. Can you even get sick?”

“Kwami can get sick,” she admitted. “But not from Human illness. I won’t catch a cold just by being near you.”

“Good to know,” she said. “I know I said I’d be Lady Luck if I have to, but would I even be able to do anything like this?”

“The Transformation does enhance your abilities,” she said. “While transformed your illness would be somewhat suppressed, but that will catch up with you when you detransform. For now, don’t worry about that. How about you order some soup?”

“Ugh,” she groaned. “No. Soup sucks.”

“You need to eat something,” she said. “And with a sore throat-”

“I know I know,” she said. “I’ll order some toast or something but I can’t stand soup. It’s liquid food. Ridiculous.”

She climbed back into bed, texting her food order to room service. Although she fell asleep before the food had even arrived.

* * *

“Chloé wake up!”

Chloé swatted something away from her face. She didn’t want to wake up. Everything still felt awful.

“Chloé please! I think Adrien’s in trouble!”

That got her attention. While everything still felt like it was underwater, she sat up. Okay that was better than earlier. Good sign.

Tikki was holding her phone, lifting it up to her face. The light was a little bright right now, but she took it and opened the messages. A bunch of missed calls and texts from Adrien.

 **Adrikitty:** Since you missed the actual unveiling, here’s some pictures I took! Think I’d make a decent photographer? ^w^

**Adrikitty:[Image_01.png](https://66.media.tumblr.com/1061ad26ccbeba2928e6e16cd763da08/tumblr_pudysnjP781w597l3o1_1280.png)**

**Adrikitty:[Image_02.png](https://66.media.tumblr.com/234c523648c145a116f7af4cbe7f384f/58767aa6a400dbe3-60/s500x750/110389c5ff129816195c7dcff7cc268e19499654.jpg)**

**Adrikitty:[Image_03.png](https://66.media.tumblr.com/9a920efe07d902bc833dd905886b8ed9/tumblr_pnwtj8ErR21wsv7ll_1280.jpg)**

**Adrikitty:** He totally made us the same height though which is rude. Obvs I’m taller. >:3c

 **Adrikitty:** I’m assuming you’re still asleep but feel better okay? Make sure to eat something. I know you hate soup but it is easy when sick. At the very least drink some tea. uwu

 **Adrikitty:** Marinette invited me to a movie :D !!! Okay it’s a group thing but still!

 **Adrikitty:** You know, I know you still don’t get along with everyone else, but I could see if they’d be okay going to a movie with you too? If you feel better by then.

 **Adrikitty:** Okay I know what this looks like but it wasn’t me. You know that, right?

 **Adrikitty:** Plagg thinks it might be an Akuma but idk why one would be upset enough to imitate me. Though I am cool enough to imitate, I’m sure. >;3c

 **Adrikitty:** I’m going to do some investigating, so I might not answer for a bit.

 **Adrikitty:** Oh boy. So that last thing was absolutely me, but what else was I supposed to do?

 **Adrikitty:** I can’t just let the cops arrest Chat Noir. They wouldn’t really let me keep a secret identity in jail.

 **Adrikitty:** Also Sabrina’s dad is kind of a dick. :/

 **Adrikitty:** I think I have a lead on the Akuma.

 **Adrikitty:** Please pick up.

 **Adrikitty:** Chloé I might need some help here.

 **Adrikitty:** Okay, ‘Chat’ is going to have to do some things so call me on the weapons.

 **Adrikitty:** I just realized how much that last sentence made no sense. Like we’re talking in code.

 **Adrikitty:** Should we be talking in code?

 **Adrikitty:** Good thing Father never thinks to read my texts. Or check my purchase history. He’d be concerned over how much Camembert I buy.

“What have you gotten yourself into?” Chloé muttered. “Tikki, Spots On!”

Tikki was right. The Magic of the transformation was unfortunately not ‘miraculous’ enough to make her not sick, but it did suppress some of it so that she could stand without pitching forward. Flipping open her yoyo, she dialed Chat’s number.

As it rang, she wondered a little about the whole ‘calling each other’s weapons’ thing. Could there be a chance they could figure out how to call Hawkmoth on this thing? Annoy him with incomprehensible Gen Z humor until he decided to quit being a jackass?

“Hey, glad you’re up,” Chat said.

“Unfortunately,” Lady Luck replied. “What the hell did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!” he replied. “There’s an Akuma who looks like me. And he kinda stole the Mona Lisa? And of course the cops don’t believe that I didn’t randomly turn to the darkside. So they’re chasing me. I’ve been going around investigating a bit, switching back to Civilian Mode when they get too close and showing up across town.”

“Great,” she groaned. “Your investigating turn up any clues?”

“I think it’s that artist,” he said. “Théo Barbot? The one who made the statue of us? Not sure why he’s mad at me since I was the one who showed up, but whatever.”

“Okay, I think I know where his studio is,” she said. “Keep playing Scooby Doo.”

“I feel offended by the implication of me being Scooby,” he whined.

“Well we can’t both be Daphne,” she said. “Just deal with him until I get there.”

She closed out the call and headed to the balcony. Getting there was going to be a problem. One swing and she was already dizzy enough to slam into a wall. Great.

At least it wasn’t that far of a trip. She managed to only hit two more walls on the way! And she also managed to not throw up in someone’s chimney!

Considering what Chat said, it sounded like there was a ‘Copycat’. Perhaps Lucky Charm would help her keep track of which one was which in a battle? It would cut the timing close, but that seemed to be how it always was.

“Lucky Charm!”

This was the smallest Lucky Charm yet. And a shape she found easily recognizable. A tube of lipgloss. Perhaps the plan would be to mark the real Chat? She shoved it into the top of her boot and headed to the building.

The window to the studio was already open, so she just dropped in the top. The strong scent of art materials helped open up her sinuses. She wasn’t completely sure that was a good thing.

When she landed, she had to take a minute to process the sight she saw. One Chat Noir was chained to the floor. The other was on top of him, straddling his waist in an effort to keep him pinned down.

“Well someone somewhere is writing a fanfic about this,” Lady Luck mumbled.

“There you are!” the Chat on top grinned. “I’ve already caught the impostor!”

“She won’t be duped by a jealous impostor like you!” the Chat on bottom spat back.

Honestly, it was difficult to tell just looking at them. It wasn’t just the exact same costume. Everything from hair to face to even body type was the same. She wondered how far it went. Would the ‘Copycat’ have the scar Adrien got on his leg from that time he slipped into a table while sockskating through her room? Not that she wanted to ask either to strip down to check.

But there was something about their expressions. The Chat on top was looking at her strangely. Not in a way he usually did. In fact, it didn’t look like an expression Adrien would make at all. Wait. Her brain was catching up. Her Chat was giving her a hint already, in a way she couldn’t resist.

And of course, that gave her an idea on how to prove which Chat was which. Along with how to use her Lucky Charm.

“Where’s the Butterfly?” Lady Luck asked.

“In his ring,” the Chat on top said.

Meanwhile, the one on bottom pointed to the pocket of the others’ vest. Interesting. She knelt down for a ‘closer look’, getting a little too in their space. While one Chat seemed to blush a little, she pulled the lipgloss out of her boot.

“You know, Chat,” Lady Luck mused. “You did such a good job catching your doppelganger. I think you deserve a bit of a reward.”

“A reward?” the ‘Copycat’ repeated.

“Of course,” she grinned, leaning back and showing off the lipgloss. “After all, I did get a new lipgloss! Strawberry flavored!”

“I-uh-but,” he stammered. “Shouldn’t we take care of the Akuma first?”

“Hm, usually I’d say yes,” she frowned, glancing down at Chat. “But he’s not going anywhere. And I have to admit, even if it is just a very good look-a-like, seeing you all chained up gives me ideas.”

Yeah. Ideas like throwing up. Though that might just be because she's sick. But Lady Luck tried to stay ‘in character’, swallowing down the urge to cough as well. She finished with the lipgloss, bringing him close.

Men could be quite stupid. He already had his eyes closed and lips ready, not caring as Lady Luck moved her hands down his chest and into his pocket. The item felt like a picture or a piece of paper. Easily breakable. Good, since from the beeping it sounded like Chat had already used his Cataclysm.

“A jealous impostor,” Lady Luck said, standing up and showing off the lifted item. “Have to hand it to you, Kitkat, that was a good hint.”

“You know me,” Chat grinned. “I wanted to actually quote that scene, you know the one, but I felt like that could be too obvious if he knew the series.”

Copycat looked about to attack, but Lady Luck ripped the paper before he could. She caught the Butterfly and used the ‘Miraculous Ladybug’ spell. Then, as Copycat dissolved into purple mist, Lady Luck finally let herself have another coughing fit.

“Ugh, what am I doing here?” Théo groaned. “Lady Luck?”

“Hey,” Lady Luck said, trying to get her breath back. “Do you have the key to those chains somewhere? Not sure how to get my cat back without it.”

Théo looked around, taking in the fact that there were Heroes in his studio and one was chained to the floor. For his part, Chat gave a half-assed wave. After taking a second to collect his thoughts, Théo began searching for the key, eventually finding it in one of the drawers.

The moment he was free, Chat was at Lady Luck’s side, gently rubbing her back through another coughing fit.

“Are you alright?” Théo asked.

“Fine,” Lady Luck answered. “Just-ahem- kinda sick right now. Minor cold. That’s why I didn’t show up to the statue unveiling this morning.”

“Oh,” he said. “Right, sorry. I shouldn’t have been so upset about it.”

“It’s fine,” Chat said.

“I have to ask though,” Lady Luck said. “If you were upset about me not showing up, why was your Akuma form a clone of Chat Noir? While I’m sure he’s loving the ‘Copycat’ pun, I would’ve figured you would be more upset at the one who didn’t show up.”

“Well, that was more...” Théo said, giving Chat a glance. “Chat mentioned how you two are, you know. ‘A thing’. But the fact that he’s with someone like you and just calling it ‘a thing’-”

“What the fuck did you say to him?” she demanded, whirling to face Chat and regretting her volume.

“I didn’t say that!” Chat defended, backing up a good few feet. “I was just trying to let him down gently! Looking back I can see how it could be misinterpreted, but-”

Lady Luck rolled her eyes. This was probably some form of karma. She’d spent a while pretending to be in love with Adrien to deter his fangirls. Now Chat had accidentally kept her fanboys at bay.

“Look,” Lady Luck said. “Chat and I are not a couple. That said, I’m not really interested. At all. I’m sure you’re sweet when not Akumatized, but you know.”

“Of course,” Théo said, giving a sheepish grin. “It was mostly a hero-crush type thing anyway. Not that I’m not interested, but I’m aware that a five thousand year old goddess isn’t interested in some random ninteen-year-old.”

Something about that was not clicking right. Lady Luck and Chat Noir shared a look, blinking in confusion. At least that didn’t make sense to him either. She’d thought it was just because she was still sick.

“I’m not...” Lady Luck began. “Wait, is this about the Egypt thing?”

“Yes,” Théo answered. “From your reaction, I’m guessing that wasn’t accurate though.”

“Not exactly,” she said. “It’s more of a ‘the powers are passed on to a new wielder’ situation. There was someone using the Ladybug Miraculous back then, and I have it now. And I’m only sixteen so...”

“Oh- oh wow- I-I am so sorry!” he blurted out. “I promise I’m not some creep. I really thought the ‘ancient goddess’ thing was believable.”

“You’re good,” she said. “Hey, could be worse. Nineteen is probably my limit on how much older someone could be for me, and even then it’d have to be a special situation. It’s not like you’re thirty, you know?”

“Still, I feel creepy,” he said. “I mean, my step-sister’s sixteen. And even if I’d be okay with her dating with my best friend, the idea of some random guy my age hitting on her is creepy.”

“I get it I-”

She was cut off by another sneeze. And a beep from both her earrings and Chat’s ring. Right. Dumb time limits.

“We should get going,” Chat said. “Lucky here really needs to get back to bed.”

“Right,” Théo nodded. “Sorry for getting Akumatized and making you work on a sick day.”

“Eh, blame Hawkmoth,” Lady Luck shrugged. “If you still want an autograph though, I wouldn’t mind dropping by at some point when I’m not sick.”

“For now,” Chat inturupted. “You need to get back to bed.”

Lady Luck sighed, but relented, waving as she threw her yoyo out the window and to the roof across. She heard Chat follow after her. A few rooftops away, they stopped. Well, Lady Luck did.

“You okay?” Chat asked.

“Fine,” Lady Luck said. “Just gonna-”

Her Miraculous beeped once more as the transformation wore off. And oh boy. Tikki had said something about Magic burning her energy more. The moment it was gone, Chloé found herself feeling worse than she had before. Everything hurt and felt like it was spinning. Like she was tumbling underwater.

“Hey!” Chat exclaimed, catching her as she pitched forward. “Are you okay?”

“’m good,” Chloé mumbled.

Chat’s transformation wore off soon after, leaving both of them on the rooftop.

“Wow, kid,” Plagg greeted. “You look terrible.”

“Hush,” Chloé replied. “You got any cookies for Tikki?”

“You didn’t bring any?” Adrien asked, handing Plagg a cheese wedge.

“Didn’t think about it,” she said.

“She was worried about you,” Tikki said.

“Obviously,” Adrien shook his head. “And you were obviously too busy to change out of your pajamas too.”

“Hush,” Chloé said, trying to will her shorts to cover more of her legs. “Just go get cookies for Tikki and I’ll go home and rest.”

“If you think I’m letting you swing back alone, you’re very mistaken,” he said. “Claws Out!”

Next thing Chloé knew, Chat Noir was carrying her bridal-style, running across rooftops. This was a lot more terrifying when she didn’t have a supersuit of her own to protect her. She clung to him tighter.

Despite that terror, and the stubborn part of her that wanted to insist she was fine and could make it back on her own, she was kind of aware that she was very much not okay right now.

Eventually, they landed on her balcony. While she tried to protest that she could at least walk from here, Chat wasn’t having it. He used his foot to open the balcony door and walked her all the way to the bed.

He went the extra mile, grabbing her phone and texting a new roomsevice order. Even stayed and waited for the staff to bring it up, ducking in the closet when one of the staff brought it in.

“You gonna be okay?” Chat asked, handing her the tray of tea and toast.

“Fine,” Chloé replied. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“I think I have a reputation for that,” he grinned. “So do you.”

“Whatever,” she huffed. “Just go home before you catch a cold of your own.”

“Okay,” he laughed. “But text me if you need anything.”

“She will,” Tikki said. “And if she gets too stubborn, I know where you live.”

“Why does that sound threatening?” he wondered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's updating everything today?


	8. Mr. Pigeon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FInally!!! Y'all waited for so long and all I have to show for it is Mr. Pigeon

Chloé set down her bag and dug out a sketchbook before looking around for pencils. Mostly she was avoiding the look Tikki was giving her. She really hoped she would give up and go back to trying to figure out how to play video games despite being the same size as a controller.

But of course, the tiny god that had been around since before the dawn of time had a lot of patience.

“Okay,” Chloé sighed. “Just say it and get it over with.”

“This is a bad idea,” Tikki said. “Both in general and in trying to be nicer. You can’t just steal someone’s design.”

“Well, I’m not entirely doing that,” she said. “I’m just using it as a jumping off point.”

“Chloé,” she warned.

“I might’ve done the ‘just straight copy it’ if I wasn’t being nice,” she admitted. “But now I am. So again, just a jumping off point. Come on. The most similarities our hats will have is a theme. Everything else can be brushed off as a coincidence due to only so many ways you can alter the hat before it’s no longer a derby hat. But it’s fine!”

“Chloé,” she repeated, sounding more exasperated than disappointed by this point.

“Just inspiration!” she insisted. “It’s just like looking through old magazines for ideas.”

Tikki didn’t look convinced. Despite that, Chloé settled down and pulled up the pictures Sabrina sent her. Yet, as she studied the design closer, she found herself frowning and growing more and more frustrated.

“That’s just ridiculous,” Chloé muttered. “I can’t even cheat properly.”

“Is the picture blurry?” Tikki asked.

“No,” she huffed. “But Marinette had to choose feathers as her theme! Feathers!”

“What’s wrong with feathers?” she wondered, tilting her head to look at the phone better. “I think it looks nice. You still shouldn’t be copying it but-”

“That’s not the problem,” she said. “Adrien’s going to be modeling this, and he’s allergic to feathers. Obviously he won’t die or anything, but he sneezes like crazy.”

“I’m sure they could use fake feathers,” she assured.

“I guess,” she admitted. “But it would be pretty obvious I was up to something if I gave Adrien a feather design. Probably a good thing I didn’t just send it off to be straight up copied. Would’ve been caught immediately.”

“Oh, you would’ve been caught immediately anyway!” she giggled. “Perhaps you would learn a lesson about cheating while you’re at it!”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Turn it upside down,” she answered.

Chloé gave her a look, but flipped the phone around to see it from her angle. At first, she didn’t see what the problem was, as it was just an upsidedown hat. The only thing that looked vaguely interesting was the band on the hat, the swirls in the embroidery looking almost like they spelled something.

Wait. They did spell something. She could very clearly see ‘Marinette’ written in the pattern.

“That is devious,” Chloé smirked. “I’m pissed that it would’ve screwed me over, but damn. I’m a little impressed with her planning.”

“Guess you’ll really have to work from scratch, then,” Tikki said.

Dropping the phone, Chloé’s focus went back to the sketchbook. She started with a basic sketch of a derby hat. After that, it was stuck. Where does one go from there? A theme, perhaps? Not feathers, of course.

Perhaps she could use something she knew would play into Gabriel’s personal preferences to win favor? Wait. No. Only thing she could think of was all the butterflies and peacocks designed into his mansion. Peacocks meant feathers, and after Hawkmoth, she was starting to have a grudge against butterflies.

Why did Chloé find this so difficult? Her mother was the Style Queen, and her best friend’s dad was a famous designer. She knew the rules of fashion. If someone gave her a basket of random clothes from stores around the city, she could put together something that looked incredible. Even if she was given only random items from some cheap store, she could at least make something that looked half-way decent.

But creating a new design entirely was something altogether different. Everything she thought of was too plain or too extra. Or it just reminded her of old pieces she’d seen. Frustration built until she wanted to throw the sketchbook at a wall. 

“Hey, it’s okay,” Tikki said, pressing a hug against her cheek. “You’ll figure out a design eventually!”

“Yeah,” Chloé huffed. “But will it be good enough?”

“Something tells me this isn’t about just this contest,” she replied.

She wiped at her face, somewhat surprised to find tears. When did that start? Shaking her head, she put the sketchbook aside and curled up.

“I just...” Chloé tried to say. “If I can win one of Gabriel’s contests, it might be something that impresses my mother.”

“You shouldn’t have to win a contest just to get your mom’s attention,” Tikki said.

“Maybe you’re right,” she admitted. “I shouldn’t have to. But I do. She doesn’t like anything that isn’t exceptional. Doesn’t even bother to remember your name unless you impress her.”

Tikki hugged her harder, gently wiping tears off her face. Chloé wanted to ramble about it. About how everything was about her mother. Every decision, every action. All of it was just to try and get attention from her.

That breakdown was cut off by her phone. Akuma alarm. Taking a shaky breath, Chloé pulled herself together. She couldn’t afford to break when Lady Luck was needed.

Unsure of how much time the Akuma would take up, she snapped a picture of the sketch she had already. A few notes about color choices and an accessory or two, and she sent it off to the people who could actually make the thing come to life. So to speak.

She opened to the Luckyblog, only to be met with… pigeons. A lot of pigeons. Okay, sure, they seemed to be doing strange things, but that didn’t really scream ‘Akuma’. Oh. Wait. A video just popped up of a flock of pigeons kidnapping a park ranger. Definitely an Akuma.

Another video popped up. This one was a link to the news channel. She clicked it and Nadja’s face popped up.

“Pigeons have taken over Paris!” Nadja reported. “This is just one of many alarming situations giving authorities cause for major concern!”

Nadja paused for a moment, touching her earpiece. Obviously getting an update.

“I’ve just been told that someone named ‘Mr. Pigeon’ is making an announcement!” Nadja said.

The second screen popped up, showing a bunch of pigeons on the Eiffel Tower. Of course it was the Eiffel Tower. Why would he go anywhere else? At the center of the flock was a man in a pigeon costume.

“Oh, dreary day, poor Parisians!” Mr. Pigeon said, making a few bird noises as well. “Sorry to ruffle your feathers, but Paris now belongs to the pigeons! Flap flap!”

Chloé grimaced and raised an eyebrow. Looking to Tikki, she saw the Kwami make a similar expression.

“Look,” Chloé said. “I’m not… I’m trying not to judge but-”

“No, yeah, that’s a little weird,” Tikki said. “Still, we should head out to defeat him.”

“Right,” she agreed. “Tikki, Spots On!”

Soon enough, Lady Luck was swinging across rooftops on the way to the park. Living in Paris all her life, she’d never really noticed the pigeons. They were just there. All the time. Doing the usual things birds do.

Now though, it was unnerving to see them act so strangely. They seemed to have disappeared. For the most part. She would occasionally see a flock flying in strange patterns. Such as an airplane. Oh boy this was really going to be a headache.

Speaking of, another reason this fight would be a pain was two rooftops away. Lady Luck dropped in just as Chat Noir finished a sneezing fit.

“You think this is weird, or is it just me?” Lady Luck asked.

“Birds of a feather flock together,” Chat answered, sneezing again. “Ugh. You’d think the Transformation would suppress my allergies like it did with your cold. But no.”

“Well, you are the embodiment of ‘bad luck’,” she pointed out.

“Any ideas on how to find bird guy fast?” he asked, sticking his tongue out at her.

“Other than see what part of the city makes you sneeze?” she retorted. “Honestly, I say we wait in the park.”

“In the park?” he asked.

“Yep,” she said. “Seems like the guy keeps swooping in there. Besides, Hawkmoth is Akumatizing people so they’ll come get our Miraculous. Eventually Mr. Pigeon will have to come for us.”

Chat shrugged before hopping off the roof and heading to a park bench. She followed, though decided to stay standing instead of on the bench. Stretching, she tried to remember how much time she had spent curled up attempting to sketch. She really should work on better posture while drawing.

“Oh, hey,” Chat said. “Did I tell you that Father found out about my earrings?”

“Oh boy,” Lady Luck snickered. “How mad did he get?”

“Confusingly,” he groaned. “Didn’t seem to be mad about the earrings themselves, though he was a bit upset I didn’t ask. He was more upset that I didn’t mention it because now we have to coordinate my earrings with the outfits I model. So much wasted time where I could’ve been showing off some of his jewelry line!”.

“You know,” she sighed. “I’m not sure what kind of teen rebellion you could really pull off. You’re too sweet and innocent to pull some actual scandal, and getting a piercing doesn’t even phase the man. Maybe you should say ‘I’m a superhero’ and see how he reacts.”

“Pretty tempting,” he said. “But then I wouldn’t be able to sneak out as easily. Unless I figure out where the secret passages are.”

“Ugh,” she groaned. “I still don’t believe your house has secret passages.”

“One day I’ll-”

He was cut off by a sneeze. Then another. And he kept sneezing as Lady Luck realized the shadow passing over them was probably not just a harmless cloud.

Within seconds her vision was filled with feathers. The birds weren’t attacking, beaks and talons doing little damage. But a hundred pairs of wings were battering her around, lifting her off of the ground. From the sound of Chat sneezing again, he wasn’t faring better.

“Get away from me you filthy-ACK!”

Lady Luck wanted to shout more, but all it got her was a mouth full of feathers. Which was disgusting! She was absolutely going to go back to her room and brush her teeth for an hour after this. For now, all that was left to do was continue to try and smack birds away.

Once the whirlwind of feathers finally cleared, it was easy to take notice that they were now up on top of the hotel. The second thing she noticed was the fact that they were now in a cage. Finally she noticed Mr. Pigeon himself, hovering in the air with the aid of his birds. She wondered how she didn’t notice bird brain first, since he was very…. Noticeable

“Your Miraculous,” Mr Pigeon said. “Give them to me or face the wrath of my feathered friends!”

The man had a bird call on a string around his neck, likely where the Butterfly was hiding. He blew into it, and the pigeons sprang into action. Some of them began to bang on the cage. The rest surrounded the heroes and aimed at them with their-

“Absolutely not!” Lady Luck shrieked, instinctively shielding her head with her arms. “Chat Noir get us the hell out of here right now!”

“Cataclysm!”

Chat’s hand was wrapped in black energy as he swiped at the bars of the cage. Pigeons scattered as the metal disintegrated and fell apart. After collecting herself a little, Lady Luck stood tall and spun her yoyo, advancing forward as Mr. Pigeon cowered back.

“Well, well,” Chat grinned. “Looks like the pigeon’s really a chicken.”

“Me?” Mr. Pigeon said, making more bird noises in between. “I’m not flying away. I’m just killing two birds with one stone!”

He sounded the bird call again before jumping off the edge of the roof. That gave the heroes a momentary panic before seeing a flock catch him and take him away.

The panic came back tenfold when they realized a flock was circling around and diving at them. They sprinted to the door that led into the hotel, barely closing it before the pigeons caught up to them. Somehow the birds managed to fly into the metal door so hard it left a dent. 

Hearing Chat’s ring beep, she took his hand and sprinted down the staircase and into the hall. After making sure no one could see them, Lady Luck entered the code to her room and ducked inside.

Being a suite in a hotel, the room did have a kitchen area. It was oddly small compared to the rest of the room, the thought process being that if you had the money to rent the suite, you wouldn’t be cooking your own meals.

Still, it had a fridge and a pantry that was kept stocked with her favorite snacks. And lately, both cookies and camembert had been added to it. Lady Luck grabbed a wheel of the cheese and tossed it to her partner just as his transformation wore off.

“You recharge and try to find where he’s heading,” Lady Luck said. “I’m going to fix my hair.”

Looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror, she found her hair was as bad as she thought. It was half out of the braid, looked like it had been styled by a blender, and there were a few feathers still stuck in.

As she took out the hairtie, there was a knock on the door to the room.

“Chloé?” her dad’s voice came from the other side. “Are you in there?”

Looking at the reflection of Lady Luck in the mirror, and then to Adrien and Plagg who had gone further into her bedroom to use her laptop, she decided it wasn’t a good idea if he came in right now.

“Don’t come in!” Lady Luck called back. “I’m just, uh, getting ready for a shower! What did you want?”

“Just checking on you,” her dad replied. “That Akuma was on the roof, and I wanted to make sure you were alright.”

“Of course I am,” she said, freezing up a little. “It’s not like the guy’s after me. I’m not a bird. Or a park ranger.”

“I know,” he sighed. “I just worry about you. Considering last time with your classmate…”

“I’m fine,” she insisted. “I’ll be in the shower for a while. You probably need to do all that official mayor stuff. Calming the people and promising that the Heroes will save the day again.”

“Alright,” he agreed. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay first.”

She listened for a moment, waiting for him to say more, but he had left. She refocused, finishing with her braid and grabbing a swig of mouthwash because she could still taste feathers.

“Please tell me you know where birdbrain is,” Lady Luck huffed.

“Sightings on the Luckyblog say pigeons are heading to the Grand Palais,” Adrien answered. “That’s probably where he’s keeping those park rangers.”

“Then why bring us all the way here?” she wondered. “Never mind. Let’s just deal with this.”

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

After that, it didn’t take them long to get across the city to the Grand Palais. The duo landed on the rooftop, Chat letting out another sneeze. Then another. Three more later, and he finally stopped.

“At least we know we’re in the right place,” Lady Luck said.

“Ugh,” Chat groaned. “I can’t wait until we’re done. Then we’ll never have to deal with this again!”

“Don’t jinx yourself,” she said.

There was a skylight on the roof. Looking in, they could see Mr. Pigeon himself, and a cage with all the park rangers. God this was a weird Akuma.

Mr. Pigeon wasn’t looking toward them. It would be easy to open the skylight and grab him with her yoyo. But with Chat’s allergies, she didn’t want to risk losing the element of surprise. 

“Lucky Charm!”

A box fell into her hands. It was rectangular, though not too big. As she turned it over, she heard something inside. Opening the end, she found a bunch of small pieces. Mostly red, though spotted with black. She picked up a few to inspect further, and found something familiar.

“There’s no way,” Lady Luck said, popping a piece in her mouth. “It’s fucking cereal. Lucky Charm actually gave me Lucky Charms!”

“No way,” Chat laughed, taking a couple pieces himself. “Oh. Wow. The black pieces are the marshmallows. It really is Lucky Charms.”

“At least this has an easy answer of how to use it,” she said. “Open the window, Kitkat!”

As quietly as he could, Chat unlocked the skylight and lifted it up. While he, predictably, sneezed and got Mr. Pigeon’s attention, Lady Luck dumped the cereal into the room.

Despite Mr. Pigeon’s commands, the birds were too preoccupied about the cereal to listen to him. It was easy for Lady Luck to throw her yoyo around his ankle, hauling him up and making him drop the necklace.

Chat jumped down into the building, running to the object.

“Cata-ACHOO! Cataclysm!”

The necklace broke as soon as he touched it. Dropping Mr. Pigeon to the floor, Lady Luck threw her yoyo and caught the Butterfly. It was a bit harder to retrieve her Lucky Charm. Hopefully the box was enough, as she really couldn’t get the cereal back.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Thankfully that magic decided to return the park rangers to the park. Well, she assumed that’s what it did. It either teleported them back or deleted them from existence. Probably the former.

‘Mr. Pigeon’ returned to normal. She didn't know his name, as he was some guy that they’d never met. Lady Luck was kind of glad for the reprieve. Hopefully more Akumas would be random civilians and not people she knows. 

After returning the repaired necklace, Lady Luck had just enough time to head home, detransform, grab the hat for the contest, and rush back to school.

As Chloé showed her hat to Sabrina, she looked over the competition. Rose and Juleka had one that looked steampunk-ish, though it was basically just slapping some gears on a hat. Kim and Max had a hat with a few flowers on it. Marinette had run up just after Chloé did, presenting her hat that was just as designed in the sketches. Sabrina looked between the two hats, confused, but Chloé just quietly told her she changed her mind.

Nathalie was already talking to Principal Damocles and Miss Bustier. Adrien had joined them at some point after the fight. Chloé wondered where Gabriel was, as he was supposed to be judging the contest. But her heart sank seeing Nathalie pull out the tablet on video call.

She had hoped that Gabriel would’ve taken this as a chance to come out again. He hasn’t left the mansion since Emilie disappeared. Honestly, as much as she understood that feeling, she was starting to worry about him. Especially the way Adrien talked about him. Closing himself off further by staying in his office and working far too much.

As the judges came her way, Chloé straightened up and tried not to look over at how Marinette’s hat came out far better than her own.

“Hello, Gabriel,” Chloé greeted.

“Miss Bourgeois,” Gabriel addressed, a subtle nod to him being here as a professional. “I would have expected a hat with a bit more flair, coming from you.”

Chloé tried not to grimace at his words. True, the hat wasn’t her best work. Really, it was a basic hat, with the centerpiece being the embroidery on the band. It was the only commonality with Marinette’s design, though the pattern had been completely changed. It was a bright green, and the swirls spelled out 'Lucky' instead.

“I wanted something simpler,” Chloé explained, thinking on the spot. “As Adrien will be the one modeling it, I chose a green that matched his eyes. Even on a different model, the color is very eye-catching.”

Gabriel nodded before the judges headed to the next hat. Letting out a breath that she didn’t know she’d been holding, Chloé watched Marinette’s presentation. She looked a bit nervous, but a smile from Adrien quickly boosted her confidence.

“Everything on my derby hat is hand made,” Marinette said. “From the embroidery, to the weaving of the band, to the stitching of the brim. All done by myself. And last, there’s a special design element that only I know about: I signed mine!”

Sure enough, just as in the sketch, when Marinette flipped the hat upside down, and the embroidery showed her name.

“Very exquisite creation,” Gabriel mused. “You definitely have the laboring hands of a hat make, miss…”

“Marinette,” Adrien offered, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder.

There was a pause from Gabriel. Chloé wondered if he noticed the look Adrien was giving Marinette at the moment. She’s pretty sure Nathalie noticed, as her eyebrows raised about a fraction of an inch.

“Congratulations on your demonstration, Miss Marinette,” Gabriel said. “You’re the winner. Adrien will wear your derby hat on our next advertising campaign.”

“Thank you!” Marinette exclaimed, barely able to contain her excitement. “Thank you, thank you!”

With that, Nathalie ended the call and promptly walked off, Principal Damocles and Miss Bustier following behind. Adrien stayed back, taking the hat from Marinette and making sure their hands brushed together as he did.

“Awesome job, Marinette,” Adrien said.

He began to put on the hat, but paused. Then he sneezed, and Chloé rolled her eyes. As Adrien apologized for his allergies, Chloé put her own hat on and gathered up the bonus accessories from her hat box.

“Here,” Chloé said, offering an item.

“What is that?” Marinette asked.

“What does it look like?” she raised an eyebrow. “Artificial feathers. I had really hoped you’d have better sense than picking up random feathers from the ground. Who knows what kind of diseases it has?”

Hesitantly, Marinette took the feather. But both she and Alya were eyeing her with suspicion.

“How did you know she’d need that?” Alya asked.

“Because Adrien’s allergic to feathers,” Chloé shrugged.

“Right,” Marinette mused. “And how, exactly, did you know that my hat would use feathers?”

“This is what I get for trying to be nice,” she grumbled. “Can’t you just accept that horses are self-conscious of the inside of their mouths?”

“Not from you,” she said. “Especially not when you say things like that. So what are you up to?”

“Being nice for once?” she offered. “Look, you wanted a feather hat. It won the contest. But Adrien’s allergic. So you need artificial ones. How is this a hard concept? Ugh. Just- just think whatever you want. I’m leaving!”

With that, she stormed off. Not even letting Sabrina catch up to her. It was only once she was a few blocks away from the school that he let herself slow down.

“I’m proud of you, you know,” Tikki said, suddenly appearing on her shoulder.

“I bet,” Chloé huffed. “I think that was a disaster.”

“A little,” she admitted. “But you chose not to steal Marinette’s design! And you even helped her! That’s something!”

“It’s… something alright,” she said. “I just- ugh. Being nice now is hard. I’d like to be able to do something nice without getting questioned about it! I mean, I get it. I was terrible! But still. It hurts all progress when I get faced with that and I just want to snap!”

“I know,” she said, nuzzling against Chloé’s cheek. “It takes time. And I’m sorry for that. Especially as my sense of time is so skewed, being as old as I am.”

“I can imagine,” she said. “Though if I imagine too long, I might have an existential crisis!”

“Can’t have that now,” she giggled. “How about we go home, alright?”

“Yeah,” she agreed. “Home sounds pretty great about now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not sure if the fma reference counts, as it's a reference to my own fic and not the actual series. 
> 
> TBH, I feel like I'm making Mari and Alya pretty jerk-ish every time they interact with Chloé, but like, they are valid in being suspicious of her. It's weird because she's the POV character.


	9. Timebreaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was one I was looking forward to. Also, there is a reference to chapter 23 of my Chlolix November fic, so be prepared for that.

Chloé wasn’t sure who had invited her to this race. She didn’t remember Adrien doing it, which made the most sense as he was the only person who would have asked her to come. And yet, she somehow knew when to show up.

Usually she’d make a comment on the ridiculousness of the whole spectacle, but Adrien was having fun. And honestly, most of her complaints were nitpicking or just being grumpy to be grumpy.

Instead of focusing on all that, she watched Alix skate around. It was interesting. Chloé had gone ice skating before, but street skating was different. While it had nearly the opposite reputation, it was a bit more practical of a skill to have. Ice skates can only be used on ice, while rollerskates can be used everywhere else.

Huh. Now there was a line of thought. Chloé had been looking into various skills to help out her time as Lady Luck. She already had basic self-defense training down; standard for a rich girl who might get mugged. And though she wasn’t tournament-worthy, she did know a bit of fencing from years with Adrien. Skating could be useful for some speed Akuma.

Refocusing back to the here and now, Chloé’s attention was caught by something shiny in Adrien’s hand.

“What do you have there, Adrikitty?” Chloé asked, plucking the object from his hand.

“Careful,” Adrien warned. “It’s Alix’s.”

“Huh,” she mused, turning the pocketwatch over in her hands. “Not really her style, is it?”

“Give it back, Chloé,” Marinette glared.

Rolling her eyes, Chloé continued to inspect the pocketwatch. It looked like it might be silver, with complex engraved patterns on it. Fancy, but not important.

What was important was the vibe she was getting from it. A very familiar tingle in her fingertips. The same kind she got from her earrings, or Adrien’s ring. There was Magic in this pocketwatch. Interesting.

As she opened the watch to check inside, a bright light flashed. It left her blinking spots out of her eyes, even as the watch slipped from her hand and to the ground. Next thing she knew, there was a sickening crunch.

When the spots finally cleared from her eyes, she saw Alix holding the broken remains of the clockwork. Oops.

“Did you do this?” Alix demanded, glaring at the crowd.

“I can buy you a new one?” Chloé offered lamely.

“My dad gave me this for my birthday!” she snapped. “It was a family heirloom!”

Chloé tried to say something else, but didn’t come up with anything before Alix skated away, Marinette chasing after her. And of course, everyone was glaring at her. Well, Adrien and Sabrina looked sympathetic. Everyone else though looked half a second away from yelling at her.

“It’s not like I broke it on purpose,” Chloe pouted.

There were some mutterings about that, but Chloé blocked them out. Honestly, she half expected the more confrontational classmates to get up in her face about it.

Unfortunately, there was a scream that had everyone looking elsewhere. The scream was very warranted as there was an Akuma quickly approaching. Judging from the skates and the fact that Marinette was still chasing after her, it was likely Alix.

Chloé didn’t hesitate, gabbing Adrien’s hand and running up the stairs to hide as everyone scattered. They watched the Akuma grab Kim, who hadn’t been as quick to run, still a little worn out from the race.

As soon as she touched him, he froze, then faded away. Not good.

“Stop, Alix!” Marinette yelled. “What are you doing?!”

“The name’s Timebreaker, now,” the Akuma grinned. “And I’m gonna go back in time and save my watch, using you punks to do it!”

“Go back in time?” she repeated. “What did you do to Kim? Why is he fading?”

“I needed his energy,” she shrugged. “Besides, the dude was a pain anyway, with all those bets. He deserves to disappear forever! And so do you!”

Timebreaker skated toward her, but Marinette had still been holding the banner from the race. She threw it in Timebreaker’s face and bolted off.

“Gotta hand it to your girlfriend,” Chloé said. “She’s pretty useful at getting Akumas to spell out their plans.”

“She’s not-“ Adrien spluttered. “We’re not- I haven’t asked her out yet!”

“You might want to do it soon,” she said.

“Let’s deal with the Akuma first?” he suggested.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

The duo jumped off the building, already surveying the area. Most of the classmates were hiding in various places. Lady Luck could see several still moving, trying to get further away.

Timebreaker had untangled herself from the banner and was heading out to hunt them down. A quick windup, and Lady Luck sent her yoyo rocketing toward her. A perfect hit in the heel and Timebreaker went tumbling, landing at the top of a staircase.

“Time out, Timebreaker!” both Heroes said at once.

Lady Luck and Chat Noir gave each other a look. The ‘don’t you steal my puns you jackass’ look. An unfortunate distraction.

At the bottom of the staircase was Rose. Timebreaker reached out for her, and the whole thing happened in slow motion. Chat ran forward, trying to catch her first. But no, as soon as Rose tried to help her up, she was frozen and began to fade.

“Goddamn it,” Lady Luck sighed. “That sort of thing is why I don’t like being all nice!”

Timebreaker was up and running. Well, skating. She chased after Mylene next, while Lady Luck and Chat Noir followed. Mylene was quite the runner, which was a little unexpected. But Timebreaker was quickly gaining.

A trip was all it took, and suddenly Mylene was frozen and fading. Lady Luck stopped to check on her, as futile as it was, while Chat went around to cut off Timebreaker.

“One and a half minutes!” Timebreaker exclaimed. “You won’t be able to stop me where I’m going, Lady Luck!”

“Let me guess,” Chat said, tapping the Akuma with his baton. “We’re all playing a game of tag?”

“Exactly!” she shouted, lunging forward at him.

“Don’t let her touch you!” Lady Luck shouted.

Chat easily dodged, jumping over Timebreaker. Honestly it wasn’t that high of a jump. Probably one he could’ve made without the supersuit.

“Missed me!” Chat teased, casually stretching. “Just a second too soon!”

Timebreaker growled at him, but quickly found an easier target. Alya was still filming on her phone. With a swear, Lady Luck gave chase again.

Alya didn’t even make it down the hill before she was hit. And Timebreaker kept going. Lady Luck felt rage build up when she saw Sabrina frozen as well.

“She wastes no time does she?” Chat asked.

“And every person gives her more time,” Lady Luck said. “If we don’t catch her before she gets enough energy, then she jumps back in time and we’re screwed.”

The chase continued around, this time with Timebreaker chasing Ivan. Lady Luck made a mental note to sign all of them up for track and field because this was getting ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!

Lady Luck threw her yoyo again, this time entangling Timebreaker’s arm and making her overshoot Ivan. He ran off while she grinned at her opponent.

The grin didn’t last long, as Timebreaker yanked on her end of the string, pulling Lady Luck forward. She landed on the ground, and attempted to get back to her feet as fast as she could. As she saw Timebreaker reaching for her, she instinctively flinched back, closing her eyes, expecting to disappear.

Yet it never came.

Daring to open her eyes, Lady Luck found Chat Noir between her and Timebreaker. Frozen and fading, just like all the others.

She felt so many emotions well up in her. The rage that had been building since Sabrina got hit. Despair, seeing this happen to Chat. To Adrien. Because she miscalculated. Her hands shook as she felt around for her yoyo. Her hands wrapped around something else instead. Chat’s baton, dropped on the ground when he leaped in front of her.

As much as she hated it, Lady Luck pulled herself up, zeroing in on her own target. Tears blurred her vision, but she didn’t need to see for this.

“Oh wow!” Timebreaker exclaimed. “Six minutes in one go! Must have been those nine lives. Gotta go, the past is-“

Timebreaker’s words were cut off by the baton swinging at her. Lady Luck was trembling with rage, holding the baton so tight that her hands began to ache. Even as she reared up to swing again.

“How dare you!?” Lady Luck shouted, taking swing after swing as Timebreaker dodged. “Why? What’s the point?! What do you want that’s worth this?! That’s worth taking my best friends away?!”

She was no longer talking to Timebreaker. No, the rage was directed at Hawkmoth himself. She knew he could hear her through his Akumas.

“Is it worth this?” Lady Luck continued to scream. “Do you have any idea what it’s like?! Seeing someone you love be in danger like this?! Seeing them disappear in front of you?! Is it worth this?!”

For some reason, Timebreaker hesitated. That glowing mask appeared on her face, but Lady Luck didn’t care. She swung again, this time making contacting and hitting her upside the head.

Lady Luck reeled back, preparing to hit her again, but something grabbed the other end of the baton. Through tears, she saw bright blue eyes surrounded in black and pink. Some small part of her recognized Marinette, and she paused for just a minute.

“Don’t hurt her!” Marinette exclaimed. “It’s not her fault! She’s Akumat-“

And with that, Marinette was frozen as well. Looking down, Lady Luck could see Timebreaker holding onto her ankle.

Lady Luck backed up, intending to fight again, but Timebreaker ran. Skating around and around, faster and faster. Wisps of Magic sparking off of her.

Running after her, the rage having subsided somewhat, Lady Luck knew she had to be careful. Too soon, and Timebreaker could stop and tag her. Too late, and she’d miss her chance.

As Timebreaker reached the top of the stairs, Lady Luck swung into her. They crashed together and disappeared in a flash of light.

* * *

“Give it back, Chloé,” Marinette glared.

Rolling her eyes, Chloé continued to inspect the pocketwatch. It looked like it might be silver, with complex engraved patterns on it. Fancy, but not important.

What was important was the vibe she was getting from it. A very familiar tingle in her fingertips. The same kind she got from her earrings, or Adrien’s ring. There was Magic in this pocketwatch. Interesting.

As she opened the watch to check inside, she heard someone shout.

“My watch!”

Chloé looked up, seeing an Akuma jump down at them. However, the thing that caught her attention was Lady Luck standing up top.

The shock of seeing herself standing there caused the pocketwatch to slip out of her hand. She didn’t even care about the shattering sound that followed.

The Akuma started yelling at ‘Lady Luck’, but Chloé wasn’t paying attention. She didn’t even pay much attention when Alix pushed her out of the way to look at the shattered remains of her watch.

Everyone began to scatter, and Adrien grabbed her hand, dragging her to the steps. Half-way up, her brain seemed to catch up, and she started sprinting as well.

Facing down Lady Luck was not something Chloé had expected today. Some part of her was hoping this was just a pair of parkouring LARPers, but no. The energy coming off Lady Luck was too strong. And even looking at her, it was too much like looking in a mirror.

“Who the fuck are you?” Chloé demanded.

Lady Luck was about to respond, but then she looked past her. At Adrien. Without warning she was jumping to tackle him, crying and muttering near-incomprehensible apologies.

It was then that Chloé noticed that this Lady Luck was without her yoyo. However, she did have Chat’s baton in her hands. Whatever happened had to be bad.

“What happened?” Chloé asked, gently putting her hand on Lady Luck’s shoulder.

“A-Akuma,” Lady Luck answered. “Alix. Her watch got broken. She-she wants to go back in time to fix it. Timebreaker takes energy from people. They- they disappear.”

“Note to self,” Adrien said. “Don’t let her touch us. Got it.”

“Don’t joke,” she growled at him. “If you do something stupid like that again I’ll-“

“Got the message!” he said, holding up his hands.

“Before we go into the fight,” Chloé began, “We should have a way for him to differentiate which one of us he’s talking to. How about nicknames of a sort? Lady and Lucky?”

“I’ll be Lady,” Lady Luck said. “I… don’t feel particularly ‘lucky’ right now.”

Adrien flinched at the way her hands tightened on the baton. A quick look out toward the fight, where two Timebreakers now ran around, and they decided they’d wasted enough time.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

In the time it had taken them to transform, Lady had already chucked the baton at the Timebreakers, and was shouting several swears at them.

“Maybe wait before making yourself a target,” Lucky said, pulling her back.

“She almost got Sabrina again,” Lady glared.

Sure enough, Lucky could see red hair running off while the Timebreakers chose a different target. She really hoped she could fix things in both Timelines.

“I think it’s time for a Lucky Charm,” Lucky said.

“Isn’t it a little early?” Chat asked.

“For you two, maybe,” Lady said, reaching to her belt. “Wait, where’s…? Fuck. I think my yoyo’s in the other timeline. Guess it’s up to you.”

“Lucky Charm!”

The item that dropped into her hands was a jug of some sort. Remembering how this worked last time, Lucky opened the lid and inspected the contents. It was some sort of liquid. While she didn’t want to risk tasting it, dipping a finger in provided enough info.

“Who’s up for some classic hijinks?” Lucky said. “We’ve got some sort of oil, and the cord from the yoyo.”

“Basic, but effective,” Lady agreed.

“Very ‘Scooby Doo’,” Chat said. “So, does this mean you’re volunteering to be live bait?”

“I thought we agreed that I was Daphne, not Scooby,” she said.

“No, we agreed that we both can’t be Daphne,” he teased. “And since Lucky is the one coming up with the plan, it makes her either Fred or Velma.”

“How about you two both go be live bait while I set the trap?” Lucky rolled her eyes. “There’s two Akumas and two of you. You can make sure they both come running this way.”

Looking dejected, they sighed and ran off after the Akumas. Lady stopped for just a moment, retrieving the baton from where she’d thrown it earlier.

The trap didn’t take long to set up. It was just pouring the oil in the right spot. Lady and Chat kept their distance from the Akumas, and kept their focus away from what Lucky was doing.

There was enough oil to coat a good chunk of the sidewalk. After tying her yoyo to a lamp post and hiding in a bush of the opposite side, she managed to get Chat’s attention.

Once he got Lady’s attention, the two ran around a little more before heading toward the trap. They were going at full speed, but the Timebreaker Duo was still gaining.

Lucky felt a little weird, seeing how in sync Lady was with Chat. Logically she knew she shouldn’t be jealous of herself, but seeing them share a smirk before using their batons to pole vault over the oil hurt a little bit.

When the Timebreakers began to slip, Lucky pulled her yoyo taught. They tripped, falling and sliding right to where Lady and Chat had landed. Synchronized baton smacks to the skates, and two Butterflies were released. They were quickly snapped up by Lucky’s yoyo.

“See you around, little Butterflies,” Lucky said.

Both Timebreakers turned back into a pair of Alixes, who were more than confused to see their double. Lucky retrieved the Lucky Charm, and looked up to see Lady hugging Chat tight.

“Sorry,” Lady said, releasing him with a shaky breath. “I just wanted to do that in case…”

She didn’t need to finish the sentence. Nor did she get a chance to, as Chat hugged her back even tighter.

Lucky looked at the Lucky Charm in her hand, debating. If this didn’t fix both Timelines…. She didn’t want to send Lady back to a world without Adrien and Sabrina.

It was Lady that made the decision for her, putting her hand on the Lucky Charm. A soft, sad smile saying everything. Even if it didn’t fix her Timeline, Lucky had to fix this one. Taking a breath, both threw the Lucky Charm up together.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Magic washed over everything, letting people reappear where they’d been. Lucky watched as one Alix and Lady began to fade away.

And yet, there was something else to it. A merging perspective. Lady’s memories of her Timeline appearing in Lucky’s head. Dropping the watch the first time, seeing Sabrina get tagged, Chat jumping to save her. The rage and despair she felt at that, which caused guilt in the present over how she’d reacted in that Timeline.

She could see Chat experiencing something similar, shivering as he remembered disappearing. Both Timelines were fixed, merging into one. And Lady Luck found herself hugging Chat.

As everyone from the class began to regroup, they ran off and detransformed behind a few trees.

Sabrina was happy to see her, and it was easy to claim that Timebreaker had tagged them. However, Chloé focused on the ground near the stairs, eventually finding the pocketwatch she’d dropped.

There was still a weird energy to it, maybe even more now that it had been repaired. Which was strange in itself. Part of her wanted to take it and poke around, but, well, considering all that happened…

Making sure she had a tight grip on it, Chloé walked over to where the classmates were surrounding Alix. They were all fussing over her, making sure she was okay. All of them froze a little at Chloé’s presence, but she didn’t pay attention.

“Here,” Chloé said, putting the pocketwatch in Alix’s hands. “Sorry for dropping your thing.”

“Did you just fucking apologize?” several people exclaimed.

“I can,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I didn’t mean to drop the thing, so I’ll apologize. If I did it on purpose I probably wouldn’t.”

“Thanks,” Alix said while the others just stared. “But how’d you get it anyway? I asked Alya to hold it?”

“I had to record your race!” Alya explained. “I couldn’t hold my phone still with one hand, so I gave it to Marinette!”

“I was holding the banner,” Marinette said, giving Alya a look. “I tried to hold it, but I was being tugged around by someone and nearly dropped it.”

“Sorry?” Nino offered as her gaze turned to him.

“Thankfully Adrien caught it,” she explained.

“You’re welcome,” Adrien said. “But after that, Chloé thought it looked cool and she ended up dropping it.”

Chloé just stared at them, trying not to comment on how dumb the situation was. Then she caught Alix’s expression, and saw that she looked just as exasperated. When their gazes met, both of them couldn’t help but laugh, much to everyone else’s further confusion.

“Okay, I take it back,” Chloé said between giggles. “I apologize that these guys don’t have any braincells.”

“Hey!” all of them exclaimed.

“Guys,” Alix sighed through her laughter. “It’s a pocket watch. It’s designed to fit in your pocket!”

That definitely got a guilty look from the group. It almost distracted them from the fact that Alix was agreeing with Chloé. Almost. The tension and confusion just made her want to get out of there, but her curiosity made her want to stay and ask questions. Thankfully there was a potential solution.

“Hey,” Chloé said. “Think you want to get out of here and let my buy you an apology ice cream?”

“Absolutely,” Alix said, eyeing the way people were still fussing over her. “Especially if you’re paying.”

Chloé ignored the confused looks as she dragged Alix off, something easy to do as she still had skates. Actually, confusing them was more fun than being rude to them ever was.

Unfortunately, once they were a bit away, Chloé’s confidence over the situation wilted. She wasn’t sure exactly what to say or where to even start. It’s not like she could say ‘hey I think your pocketwatch might be Magic’.

It was also difficult because it was Alix. Sabrina or Adrien, she could handle. Any of the others would still be awkward, but either tolerable or frustrating depending on where the conversation went. But Alix…. There was one event from last school year that stuck out in Chloé’s mind, and she was sure that it was in Alix’s mind too.

When they stopped for a moment, so Alix could switch to regular shoes, they saw Marinette sprint past. Giving each other a look, the pair followed.

They ended up at the bakery. There was a woman outside, Nadja Chamack, from the news. She seemed to be annoyed with Marinette for something. Eavesdropping further, they heard Marinette mutter apologies about the bakery being closed, but Nadja didn’t really give her a chance to talk.

While she only had half an idea of what was going on, Chloé sighed and put on a worried expression. Then she ran over, Alix following behind out of pure curiosity.

“Oh Marinette!” Chloé exclaimed, nearly tackling the girl with a hug. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“What are you-“ Marinette tried to say, breaking free of the hug.

“I was so worried!” she said, pretending to fuss over her in the same way she’d been fussing over Alix. “I saw that Akuma hit you, and then you just ran off after Lady Luck fixed everything!”

“What Akuma?” Nadja asked.

“Me, apparently,” Alix said, waving. “No one’s explained to me what I did yet.”

“It was terrifying!” Chloé sighed dramatically. “If you touched them, they disappeared from existence.”

“Oh,” Nadja said, any of her earlier annoyance dissipating. “Marinette, are you okay?”

“I-I am now,” Marinette said, still giving Chloé a look. “As I was saying, I left earlier to drop off something for my friends. I got held up because of the Akuma but-“

“I understand,” she said. “Those Akumas can make life pretty hectic. Manon was at a birthday party when that Bubbler Akuma appeared, and the birthday girl’s parents got worried when I didn’t show up. Kind of hard when you’re trapped in a space bubble.”

“Exactly!” Chloé grinned at her.

“I still should’ve been here,” Marinette said. “How about we go inside and get your order?”

Marinette unlocked the door and let Nadja inside. Before she followed, she turned to look at Chloé. It wasn’t exactly a glare, but it was suspicious. Analyzing.

“What are you doing?” Marinette asked.

“I owed you a favor,” Chloé answered. “You’re welcome.”

“I don’t like lying,” she said.

“Good thing I didn’t lie then,” she said.

With that, she walked off. It was only a few more storefronts until they reached the ice cream shop. It was quiet again, until they ordered. Alix got a triple scoop sundae of various fruity flavors, with as many toppings as she could fit in the cup without it overflowing. Chloé wanted comfort, going for a triple scoop of her own, but with all three being super fudge brownie with chocolate syrup on top. And a few gummy bears for good measure.

“So,” Alix said with a mouthful of sorbet, “What did you want to talk about?”

“What makes you think I want to talk about something?” Chloé asked.

“While I wouldn’t object to calling this a date,” she replied, “You’re making that expression. That one you had last year. In the bathroom.”

Chloé paused, chewing on a gummy bear. That date comment threw her for a loop. This kind of did seem like a date, didn’t it? Surprisingly, she didn’t feel entirely unopposed to the idea. Which was something she would sort out on another day.

Instead, she thought over what exactly she was going to say about all of this.

“I’m sorry for more than just breaking the watch,” Chloé said. “I wasn’t lying about you- about ‘Timebreaker’ making people disappear. You probably don’t remember, just like everyone else. But I didn’t… react well to Sabrina and Adrien disappearing. Especially when Adrien got hit saving me.”

“Oh,” Alix said, leaning back in her chair. “How badly?”

“I picked up Chat’s baton and started swinging,” she admitted. “That was in the first Timeline at least. Timebreaker jumped back in time and there were a few differences in round two. I don’t know if the other Timline even counts anymore but-“

“But you still feel guilty,” she said. “I get it. Probably would’ve done the same if someone did that to my friends.”

Humming in agreement, Chloé took another large bite of her ice cream. Good thing that parkouring around Paris was good exercise, because she’d been comfort eating a lot. And she blamed Tikki a little bit because it was hard to watch someone eat a cookie and not eat one yourself.

“You know,” Alix frowned. “I think I actually remember that.”

“Huh?” Chloé swallowed. “I thought Akumas don’t remember anything?”

“It’s fuzzy,” she admitted. “But I remember blonde hair and something hitting me hard. Then someone getting between us. Marinette, I think?”

“Yeah, she did,” she said. “That’s why I did that thing at the bakery. She stopped me from going further with the, uh, you know.”

“Right,” she said. “I’m not sure why I remember though. It was like- like Hawkmoth’s control slipped for a second. I don’t think it was the hit, because Akumas get hit plenty. Did you say something?”

“I think,” she said. “I think I said something about ‘do you know what it’s like to see people you care about disappear?’. If that got him to slip up…. Well, that’s pretty interesting in itself.”

“You know,” she mused. “It almost sounds like motive. Like some sort of sympathetic villain doing this to try and save someone.”

“Perhaps,” she agreed. “It definitely helps. I can, uh, pass that information onto Lady Luck next time she drops by to check on the merch department.”

“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” she said.

Chloé studied Alix’s expression. It looked a little too knowing. And for a minute, she wondered if Alix remembered enough to realize that it was ‘Lady Luck’ who hit her, not ‘Chloé’. If she did, she didn’t call her out on it. And that information didn’t seem like something someone would keep quiet.

Her thoughts wandered back to that pocketwatch. As much as she wanted to investigate it more, she felt like she wouldn’t get the chance if she asked. After dropping it twice and admitting to the whole ‘hitting her with a baton’ thing, she doubted Alix would be willing to hand it over.

Oh well. One of the many mysteries of the universe to be left unsolved. As much as it bothered her. Goddamnit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chloé: I’m gonna take you out!
> 
> Alix: Like ‘murder’ or ‘on a date’?
> 
> Chloé: Yes!


	10. Evillustrator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: this episode made me hate Ms. Mendeleive. I will never understand why the people who get salty at Ms. Bustier think that Mendeleive is 'Soooo much better'.

Chloé was completely zoned out. That usually happened in science class. It was her worst class, really. Literature was about either basic grammar or interpreting the text, Math was puzzle solving, Gym was a hell of a lot easier now that she had some time as a superhero.

But science? There were far too many large words that made her head swim. Voicing that sounded stupid, or at least made her sound stupid. But looking at a textbook and seeing a word that looked like someone slammed their face into a keyboard was a headache.

So she usually zoned out in Science class and either let Sabrina carry her, or texted Adrien. Both of them were good at science. Adrien actually loved physics like the nerd he was.

Her zoning out was interrupted by Ms. Mendeleiev yelling. Thankfully she wasn’t yelling at her, but at Nathaniel, who seemed to have been zoning out too. Though he’d been more obvious as he was drawing.

“These artistic endeavors are clearly why you’re failing science!” Ms. Mendeleive shouted over his apologies. “You go march yourself down to the principal’s office and show him that checked scratch! Then you’ll be really sorry!”

Even Chloé winced at how harsh Ms. Mendeleiev was being. Announcing to the class that he’s failing and insulting the thing he’s most passionate about? Yikes. Sure, Chloé probably had done something similar, but it was different coming from a teacher instead of your local bully child.

As Nathaniel walked by, he tripped, dropping his things everywhere. His sketchbook landed open next to Chloé’s seat, and she picked it up. Looking at the drawings, she could clearly see that he was drawing Marinette. A lot of Marinette. Including some with himself that were obviously very romantic.

“This is pretty good,” Chloé mused. “Hey Adrien! Looks like you have some competition!”

Nathaniel blushed scarlet, quickly snatching the sketchbook back and sprinting out the door. Adrien gave her a look, but she shrugged it off. Back to pretending to pay attention in class. Or not. As they were apparently getting a group project. Great.

* * *

This was… complicated. She wasn’t really taking advantage of Sabrina, was she? Sabrina offered to do her homework and projects. And when Chloé did go out of her way to ask, Sabrina always had a right to say no.

Okay, sure, she could be kinda bossy and hard to say no to, but that didn’t count, right? She was the same with Adrien, he just said no more than Sabrina did. Hell, if anything, Sabrina was the one it was hard to say no to, as she always seemed eager to help. She liked to do things before Chloé asked, not giving her the chance to not ask her.

And it’s not like Sabrina did all of her homework! Mostly just the science stuff. And occasionally the physical part of writing down the answers. It was a good compromise, since Sabrina wanted to do the whole thing on her own, but Chloé had enough common sense to know she needed to learn things to pass tests.

But they do other friend things! They hang out and watch movies and go shopping. And Chloé gives her gifts. Usually things she was getting rid of anyway, but that’s only because Sabrina usually turned down brand-new items. As long as Chloé had worn it once it’s ‘used’ enough to count. It's not like she was just making Sabrina do her homework and then never talking to her about anything else!

Okay, she probably could’ve been better overall. She’s been trying. And this is part of it. Just more complicated. So step one is fixing this and then fixing everything else!

* * *

“Here!” Chloé grinned, placing a beret on the table.

“What’s this?” Sabrina asked.

“A super cute beret from Gabriel’s collection,” she said.

“Excuse me, but are you trying to bribe her into staying your friend?” Marinette asked. “With a hat?”

“A really, really adorable hat!” Sabrina said. “That would look fantastic on me!”

“It’s not a bribe?” Chloé said. “It’s an apology?”

“Maybe say sorry?” Marinette said.

“Sorry?” she offered.

Still, Marinette raised an eyebrow at that. Was this… was this not how it worked? Chloé didn’t have much experience with giving or receiving sincere apologies. But a gift always helped, right? That’s what her dad did. Any time he was too busy and missed something, he’d give a gift. A new dress, fancy jewelry, bringing her along on a trip, something.

Before she could ponder that further, something was hitting her on the head. How were there multiple copies of the beret she bought falling from the sky?

And was that a giant hair dryer? Okay, that was her cue to run.

As Chloé sprinted in one direction, Marinette grabbed Sabrina and sprinted in another. She could sense Adrien a few bookshelves over, and made sure to run in the opposite direction as he transformed.

Getting tired of the hot air blowing on her back, she jumped onto a desk and then backflipped, landing on top of the hairdryer.

“This would be a lot easier with a yoyo!” Chloé muttered as she held on.

Maybe she should try out one of those games with the mechanical bull trying to buck you off, because this is exactly what she expected it to be like. Except the mechanical bull probably wouldn’t be low-key burning the parts of her skin that touched it. It wasn’t bad, but she was definitely going to dig out that aloe lotion later.

Suddenly the hair dryer lurched, and then vanished. As she dropped to the ground, she saw Chat staring down at her.

“I got wind that you were being blown away by a hairy situation,” Chat grinned.

“I’m going to kick your ass later,” Chloé said, allowing herself to be pulled up.

Looking around, they quickly noticed the guy in purple on the second level of the stairs. Chloé made a mental note to avoid the color until after Hawkmoth was defeated. If only because purple was starting to activate her fight or flight response every time she saw it.

“Well, that guy looks pretty sketchy!” Chat said, leaping up.

The Akuma ran off, but not before drawing something on the tablet he held. A wall appeared between himself and Chat, and blocked him from following.

“Where’d he go?” Chat wondered.

“I don’t know,” Chloé said. “But he sure has a way of illustrating his point.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, hopping over the railing to her. “So, redheaded artist Akuma. You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“That Nathaniel got upset after Mendeleive yelled at him?” she guessed. “Yeah, but that doesn’t explain why he’s after me.”

“You did kinda tease him over his crush,” he said.

“Okay, a little,” she rolled her eyes. “But compared to a teacher screeching at him and insulting him and his passion? I shouldn’t be a blip on his radar. Although, that probably does give us a lead on where he went!”

Chloé transformed as they ran out of the library. A few turns down the hall, and they got to Ms. Mendeleive’s classroom.

Unfortunately, it was already destroyed. Comically large beakers and flasks were broken and tipped over, the chemicals in them turning rainbow or making flowers grow up the wall. Ms. Mendeleive herself was focusing on the few small fires that had started by blasting them with the extinguisher and muttering about some ‘Evillustrator’. Probably the Akuma name.

She seemed to be handling it well, so the Heroes went back into the hallway.

“He went here and then to the library,” Lady Luck mused.

“But where is he now?” Chat asked. “The only people he had a grudge against was her or you, and he’s not looking for us. Who else would he go after?”

“Well, some Akumas go after things they like instead of grudges,” she said. “Stoneheart kidnapped Mylene, Bubbler tried to throw a party. So ‘Evillustrator’ might-“

“Marinette!” he yelped.

And back to running. Chat ran a little faster, worried about his crush. Lady Luck would tease him, but she was worried too. As dangerous as an Akuma hating you can be, an Akuma that’s obsessed with you might be worse.

Thankfully Marinette lived close by, but with the head start, Evillustrator was already there. The side of the building was erased, giving easy access to her room.

Inside, Evilustrator stood ready. Marinette was placing herself firmly in front of Sabrina, though Sabrina looked ready to jump in and reverse positions at any moment.

“You’re ruining the moment,” Evillustrator huffed.

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Lady Luck said. “But you ruined my moment first by showing up. So I guess it evens out.”

With a growl, Evillustrator began drawing again. However, with his focus on them, Marinette grabbed his arm. He almost looked ready to throw her, but she smiled up at him.

“Hey, about that party,” Marinette said, tilting her head and grinning in a sickeningly adorable way. “I’ll go, on one condition!”

“Anything for you, Marinette,” Evillustrator sighed.

“No more hurting people,” she said. “I simply cannot bear violence!”

Lady Luck nudged Chat Noir, trying to get him to stop that noise he was making. Jealousy was not helpful right now, especially with Marinette right in range of danger. Reluctantly, they stood down until they could get a better shot.

“For you and only you,” Evillustrator said.

He leaned down and whispered something in Marinette’s ear, and she just smiled and giggled. Then with a flick of his wrist, he drew himself a rocket pack and blasted off too fast for either Hero to react.

While Lady Luck tried to at least see which direction he flew off in, Chat Noir ran over to fuss over Marinette.

“You shouldn’t have done that!” Chat said. “That was dangerous!”

“I-uh, yes, I thow knat- know that!” Marinette replied. “But I-I didn’t want you two to get hurt.”

“It’s my job to save you from an Akuma’s claws,” he said. “Get it? Claws?”

“Yeah,” she giggled. “It’s very punny.”

“Exactly,” he said.

“You know I’m here too, right?” Sabrina deadpanned. “I was also in danger?”

“Of course we know,” Lady Luck said. “Your friend Chloé was worried about you after you ran out of the library!”

“Oh, I’m sorry I left her there,” she said. “Can you tell her I’m okay?”

“I will,” she grinned. “Anyway, pigtails. What was that about a party?”

“I think Nathaniel, er, Evillustrator, has a crush on me,” Marinette said. “He invited me to his birthday party. Which I’m pretty sure is just a date.”

“Except you’re not showing up,” Chat said, giving a Cheshire grin. “Lucky and I will!”

“He’ll leave if I don’t show up,” she argued.

“It’s not a bad idea,” Lady Luck mused. “I’d prefer to not have a civilian in the line of fire, but considering that he’s targeting you anyway, we can use it to our advantage. And we’ll be there the whole time to protect you.”

“Alright,” Chat agreed, kissing the back of Marinette’s hand. “I’ll be your knight in shining leather, and accompany such a wonderful Purr-incess to tonight’s ball.”

While Lady Luck made a mental note to kinkshame him for that ‘knight in shining leather’ comment, Marinette’s face burned red. She tried to stammer out a response, but it was mostly just laughter, which only fueled Chat’s antics.

“Again, I’m still here,” Sabrina said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“I don’t think so,” Lady Luck said. “While I appreciate the offer, I’d like to keep civilian involvement to a minimum. You should go home and stay safe.”

* * *

Lady Luck and Chat Noir were following the boat along the Seine. As the boat went under the bridge, Lady Luck prepared a Lucky Charm. A flashlight this time. The high-powered and weighted kind too. Nice.

Jumping onto the back of the boat as silently as possible, they ducked down and listened for their cue.

“I actually draw a little too,” Marinette said, leaning close. “I’m not as good as you are, of course.”

“I’m sure you’re a wonderful artist!” Evillustrator replied, thankfully loud enough to cover the involuntary sound Chat made.

“Well,” she said, reaching over and taking the pencil. “Can I draw you something special for your birthday?”

“That would be amazing,” he said.

Just as he was about to let her have it, he glanced sideways. Damn. Spotted. To be fair, Lady Luck’s bright red outfit was not built for stealth.

“Marinette, give me my pencil back!” Evillustrator exclaimed. “I need to draw something, now!”

“No, I’m keeping it!” Marinette shouted, wrenching the pencil away and getting some distance. “Now!”

With one hand, Lady Luck shone the flashlight at him, right in his face. Her other hand threw the yoyo around him. Being tied up and blinded, he quickly toppled over. Chat leaped over to Marinette, already preparing to Cataclysm the pen.

“Marinette!” Evillustrator gasped. “You’re working with them? I’m so stupid. I actually thought you liked me! But you’re really just like Chloé! Teasing me, mocking me, leading me on!”

“Excuse me?” Lady Luck snapped. “What the fuck are you on? You threatened her with harming her friends if she didn’t go on this date, and you have the audacity to claim that she’s the bad guy for not returning your feelings?”

“If I ever get like that, please punch me,” Chat muttered.

As Chat Cataclysmed the pencil, Lady Luck untangled her yoyo and snatched up the butterfly. As it released, Evillustrator turned back into a confused Nathaniel.

“See you around, little butterfly,” Lady Luck said. “You ready, kitten?”

“If you grab artsy over there,” Chat replied, putting an arm around Marinette’s waist and making her jump.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

As the healing Magic erased the boat, Chat launched himself and Marinette off the side. Lady Luck hopped down to grab Nathaniel, then hooked a lightpost and swung over.

While the lovely not-a-couple fussed over one another(well Chat fussed, Marinette was back to being starstruck), Lady Luck unceremoniously dumped Nathaniel on the sidewalk.

“You,” Lady Luck addressed, pointing to him. “You owe Marinette a hell of an apology. Maybe not jewelry or something considering the circumstances but find some kind of gift! And clean up your act because that was so many kinds of not okay!"

“Wha-huh?” Nathaniel moved back, scrambling upright. “What did I-“

“He was Akumatized,” Marinette said, pulling away from Chat long enough to talk. “Don’t hold it against him.”

“Well that came from somewhere!” Lady Luck retorted. "Sure, he was Akumatized, but what'll he say when you reject him for real?"

“What.. did I do?” Nathaniel asked. “I got the Akuma bit but what…”

“You forced this lovely Purr-incess on a date by threatening us and her friend,” Chat explained. “And then got very pissy when you found out she only did it to help defeat you. Called her ‘just like Chloé’ for rejecting you, and claimed she was ‘leading you on’.”

“I-I’m sorry?” he offered. "I... I wouldn't have said that normally? That's a barrel of yikes and I am so sorry for wherever that came from."

“Good,” Lady Luck said. “I assume you can get home on your own. Chat, get your little ‘Princess’ home before midnight strikes. I have to go.”

With that, she swung off. But instead of going home, Lady Luck headed toward Sabrina’s place. She had just enough time left on her transformation to land in an alley a block away. Making sure she hadn’t been seen, Chloé walked up to the door and knocked.

Sabrina opened the door, and definitely hesitated. Not a good sign. Chloé felt a small pit in her stomach.

“Can we talk?” Chloé asked. “I’d offer the beret again, but it kinda got lost in the library.”

“Yeah,” Sabrina said. “Come on.”

Chloé followed her in, waving to Sabrina’s dad as she did. Though she did hurry past. Every interaction with him felt awkward. She was pretty sure that he thought she was a spoiled brat, and just pretended to be nice for Sabrina.

In Sabrina’s room, Chloé took the desk chair, while Sabrina sat on the bed. On the way over, Chloé had collected her thoughts. Still, trying to voice them, is a different story.

“I’m… sorry,” Chloé said. “I mean, I don’t… want to treat you terribly. And I’m not sure if I’m doing that or not. I know I can be bossy and demanding, but you can say no when I ask you to do things. You know that, right?”

“I guess,” Sabrina said. “I like doing that stuff, usually. But you can be… harsh.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I’m trying to get better about that. I think I’m doing better? I’m not sure on the apologizing thing though. I mean, I said sorry and bought a gift. That’s how it works, right?”

“It can be,” she admitted. “You don’t have to buy a gift. The important part is meaning the apology. And you usually do! Sometimes you don’t.”

“I’ll work on it,” she said. “You also, ugh, how do I say this? You don’t have to keep doing my homework and stuff? I mean, please keep helping me when I don’t understand things because god science class makes no sense. But as much as I hate to say it, I think Marinette was right about that part.”

“She did get upset when I offered to do her geometry homework,” she said. “But she still wanted me around. Which is weird. If she blew me off I’d probably be mad about it, considering everything she’d said. But we did hang out and start the project. At least until that Akuma followed us. Oh! Lady Luck said you were worried about me.”

“I was,” she said, smiling to herself. “Didn’t want you getting hurt. I might not be…. The best person ever. But I do care about you. And not to say Marinette was right again, but there is something a little off about our friendship if people are thinking I treat you like a servant. Especially if they can easily convince you of that. And I think you might need other friends.”

“You’re not-“ she began. “You’re not, like, friend breaking up, right?”

“No!” she exclaimed. “Of course not! You’re still my friend. I just know that being my friend has probably made it hard for you to make other friends. But if you want to make other friends…”

“It hasn’t hurt my chances much,” she admitted. “To be honest, even the ‘I’ll do your homework if you be my friend’ thing didn’t work on anyone else. They’d promise we’d hang out if I did their homework, but then they were always too busy to hang out. Making up excuses to not be around me.”

“Yikes,” she said. “No wonder I’m your example of a ‘good friend’.”

“I guess?” she said. “I don’t think I know how this works either.”

“Well that’s a good sign,” she sighed. “But I do think that having other friendships might help us figure out exactly how to fix ours. Does that make sense?”

“I think it does,” she nodded.

“Good,” she said. “Because I’m trying. I promise I am. It’s just confusing without a proper direction.”

* * *

“Hey, so about the project,” Chloé said.

“Let me guess,” Marinette sighed, digging through her locker. “You convinced Sabrina to do it all?”

“No,” she sighed. “Look, I’m terrible at science and-“

“Which is what happens when you have someone else do your homework,” she said.

“That’s not-ugh,” she rolled her eyes. “Look, what I’m trying to say is that I’ll do a part of the project, but I’m terrible at science so I’ll need a lot of help anyway, which means that you two will end up carrying me no matter what. But I am trying.”

“Okay…?” she said.

And there was the confused stare again. Chloé was getting used to that. Thankfully she was saved by Adrien popping up behind Marinette as she closed her locker, and making the girl jump a few feet in the air.

“Hey,” Adrien said as Marinette caught her breath. “I heard about your adventures with Chat Noir yesterday. Were you scared?”

“Me, scared?” Marinette chuckled nervously. “It was a dream! I mean, he’s a dream! I mean, in your dreams! Wait, what am I saying anymore?”

“Okay?” he laughed. “So what did you think about Chat Noir? Was he awesome?”

“She told me all about it,” Alya said, giving Adrien a dose of Karma by popping up behind him. “About how he was her ‘knight in shining leather’. And how great his butt looked in said leather.”

“Alya, hush!” Marinette said, quickly covering her friend’s mouth. “That’s not-UGH! Did you just lick my hand?!”

“I have three sisters,” she replied. “Your quieting methods are inferior. But yes, like several people in the city, she thinks Chat is quite a Cat-ch! ”

“Tell us more about your crush on Chat Noir,” Chloé said, giving Adrien the side eye and laughing at how redfaced he was. “I hear several girls in Paris would’ve loved to be in your position. Several boys, too.”

“I am not giving you more ammo to make fun of me,” Marinette replied.

“You can, uh, you can tell me later,” Adrien said.

As the bell rang, most of the students filed out of the locker room. However, Chloé held onto Adrien and kept him back. Once making sure everyone had left, she burst out laughing.

“She-she has a crush on Chat Noir!” Chloé laughed. “Oh god this is hilarious! I mean, I’m a sucker for dramatic irony, but holy fuck!”

“She likes me,” Adrien sighed. “I know it’s weird to hear her say things about me without her knowing it’s about me, but she’s definitely falling for me!”

“You do realize the problem here?” Plagg said, floating out of Adrien’s shirt.

“Hm?” he wondered, still with a goofy smile.

“You can’t date a civilian as a Hero,” he said. “But as much as she likes ‘Chat Noir’, ‘Adrien’ is ‘just a friend’. And you can’t even tell her!”

“That’s mean!” Tikki said as Adrien’s expression dropped.

“And that’s why I think the identity thing is a little stupid,” Chloé said. “You’re in a love triangle with yourself! Hey, remember how Marinette almost got the Ladybug Miraculous? Imagine that Timeline! You two would be in some dumb love square with each other! That’s worse!”

“Ugh,” Adrien groaned. “Kill me now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrien's having a fun time.


	11. Rogercop

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm updating this at three AM, but I have a big day tomorrow/today so I wanted to do this now!
> 
> Also be prepared because I have so many things I hated about this episode that I decided to fix in this.

Of course Sabrina’s dad would get Akumatized over his own incompetence. This was ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!

And he was after her, which was going to make it hard to transform. She tried to tell Adrien to go hide and transform, then provide a distraction for her, but he wouldn’t listen. He just kept pulling her along. So she kept running.

They turned a sharp corner, and then ducked into the stairwell before ‘Rogercop’ could follow. For good measure they slipped over the railing and to the lower floor. Neither moved until they heard him go by.

“Goddamn it,” Chloé huffed. “This is just perfect. The guy does a shitty job and blames me! I know I’m a dick but do your job and don’t make it my problem twice over!”

“Chloé,” Adrien said. “About the bracelet…”

“We can find it later and-“ she paused, seeing Plagg.

The Kwami was stuck in her bracelet. The one that was missing. Which started all this. All she could do was sigh and stare at him for an explanation. Not that he noticed, as the bracelet covered his face.

“Plagg!” Tikki exclaimed, already in ‘disappointed mode’. “What did you do?!”

“I thought it was cheese?” Plagg shrugged. “Then it got stuck.”

“How’d it get stuck?” Chloé asked. “Can’t you just phase through it? I’ve seen you do that before.”

“There’s more Magic than just the Miraculous, Goldilocks,” he said. “Thing’s enchanted.”

“Very enchanted,” Tikki said, frowning as she studied it. “Interesting.”

“Any chance transforming will help?” Adrien asked.

“No!” she said. “That could damage your Miraculous! And a damaged Miraculous is incredibly dangerous!”

“Okay, not doing that,” he nodded.

“Still,” Chloé sighed. “You thought the bracelet was cheese?”

“He always thinks with his stomach,” Tikki sighed.

“In my defense!” Plagg said. “You sometimes have cheese on you! And I realized it wasn’t when I opened the box!”

“Wait,” Adrien frowned. “Where was Tikki? Wasn’t she in your purse?”

Somehow, the little Kwami got redder. At her silence, Plagg grinned. And the Humans in the room didn’t need to see his eyes to know there was mischief in them.

“You went after the pastries, didn’t you?” Plagg teased. “Who’s always thinking with their stomach now?”

“That’s different!” Tikki defended. “You go after any cheese! I only go after good cookies!”

“Sure, Sugarcube,” he laughed.

“Anyway,” she huffed. “Now that Chloé knows it was you who stole the bracelet, she can apologize to Marinette and Officer Raincomprix, and I can get more cookies!”

“Hold up,” Chloé said. “I’ll apologize to Marinette, though I still stand by that if someone stole my bracelet under malicious intent, then out of all suspects it’d be her. However, I refuse to apologize to Roger!”

“Chloé, you did kinda get him fired,” Adrien said.

“He got himself fired,” she said. “As Plagg proves, my bracelet was, in fact, stolen. The bracelet was with me in the room and then it wasn’t, and no one left. The culprit was in there. Yet he didn’t investigate. The bare minimum he should’ve done is checked everyone’s bags!”

“You realize he would’ve found Plagg if he had, right?” Tikki said.

“Okay, I’m glad for that part,” she admitted. “But not for him accusing me of making it up to be a brat. And absolutely not for him refusing to do his job because of what he thought the situation might be.”

“We can discuss this later,” Adrien said. “For now we need to get Plagg unstuck so we can go fight!”

“Well think of something,” Plagg said. “Because tugging on it ain’t working.”

“You two are lucky I’m here,” Chloé groaned. “And lucky I grabbed my purse when we ran.”

A moment of digging through the bag, and she pulled out a bottle of hand lotion. After pouring a generous amount onto Plagg, much to his annoyance, they tried tugging it off again. Lotion did the trick, letting him slide out with a cartoonish pop.

Another handy thing to keep in her purse was a pack of tissues. Good for sneezing, or wiping off excess lotion. Once she slipped on the bracelet, the duo shared a look.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

Lady Luck looked to her wrist to find that the bracelet was still there. Odd. Usually her regular clothes and accessories disappeared into whatever void when she transformed. Perhaps it had something to do with the ‘enchanted’ aspect of it?

That was something to look into. Maybe if the bracelet could trap Plagg and be ignored by her Transformation, it could be useful against Akumas. After all, they also get their powers from a Miraculous.

While the heroes ran through the halls again, Lady Luck opened her yoyo to check the news sites. Almost immediately she let out a swear. ‘Rogercop’ had given up chasing her and decided to go after her dad instead. They were currently on their way to City Hall.

In a flying car. Which is so unfair. Why do the Akumas get the cool toys?

After relaying that info to Chat, she read further. Rogercop’s power set seemed to involve blasting people with (literally) flashy handcuffs, and then making them do whatever he says when he blew his whistle. Sounds like a good bet that’s where the Butterfly is.

They dropped behind a line of officers right as the screens lit up with the Mayor’s face. Even though Lady Luck couldn’t see his hands, she had a feeling he was cuffed and being controlled.

“Paris has a new superpower,” the Mayor announced. “His name is Rogercop. I hereby relinquish all authority to Rogercop. All citizens are ordered to answer to him.”

“Ladybug and Chat Noir are now outlaws,” Rogercop said as the camera panned up to him. “They must be hunted out and taken into custody immediately.”

All the nearby officers turned to the Heroes. One made to grab at her, but Lady Luck quickly grabbed his arm and flung him into the crowd.

“Really?” Lady Luck snapped. “You people are going to follow the orders of an Akuma who’s mind-controlling the Mayor? Seriously?”

“No, of course not,” one of the officers said, glaring at the one who had been flung.

“Good,” Chat Noir said. “How many times have we saved Paris?”

“We’re still saving it,” Lady Luck sighed. “Now I know how the butlers feel. Always another mess to clean up.”

“Okay, show’s over,” he sighed. “No encore tonight. You all can go home. Or back to your jobs. Whatever.”

Rolling her eyes, Lady Luck sprinted into the building with Chat right behind her. She knew the layout of the building pretty well, having had enough ‘bring your kid to work days’ with her dad. It didn’t take long to get to the office.

Unfortunately, Rogercop was waiting to blast them. The only thing that saved them was quick reflexes and the fact that Lady Luck’s yoyo could be a shield if spun really fast. She couldn’t keep it going forever though.

“Get them!” Rogercop shouted, blowing his whistle.

Mayor Bourgeois was dragged forward by the handcuffs. At least he looked apologetic about it. Lady Luck tried to apologize too as she flipped him over her and out the door.

After that, it was a lot of dodging more blasts. The desk, table, and shelves made for decent shields, but they were too easily broken or tossed aside. Still, it was better to fight in here than out in the street where Rogercop could ‘arrest’ more allies.

They were running out of places to hide, fast. Seemed like a good time for some help.

“Lucky Charm!”

This Lucky Charm was smaller than the last few. It was also a very familiar shape.

“Really?!” Lady Luck scoffed. “A bottle of lotion? Really Tikki? Is this supposed to be helpful or are you just still salty at Plagg?!”

“Technically,” Chat Noir said, dodging another laser. “Isn’t Lucky Charm connected to you?”

“Well I’m still salty at him!” she shouted. “Get ready, Kitten!”

Popping the cap off the lotion, Lady Luck jumped out of her hiding spot and squeezed it in Rogercop’s direction. The lotion hit him in the face, gunking up the visor and blinding him.

While he tried to wipe it off, Chat activated his Cataclysm and slid under, Rogercop, destroying the wood and trapping the Akuma in the floorboards. His baton was used to lift the whistle off of Rogercop’s neck and toss it over.

Crushing it under her heel, Lady Luck quickly snapped up the Butterfly and released it.

“See you around, little Butterfly,” Lady Luck said.

“Do you have to say that every time?” Chat asked.

She stuck out her tongue at him before throwing the lotion bottle in the air.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

The wave of Magic repaired the boards and dropped Roger to the floor. It also flew out the door and released her dad from the (literally) flashy handcuffs. Thankfully the room was put back in order as well.

“Thank you, Lady Luck,” The Mayor said. “You too, Chat Noir.”

“No problem Da-uh-er Mister Mayor!” Lady Luck said, much to Chat’s snickering.

“Hey,” Roger said, finally getting up. “Isn’t that the bracelet your daughter lost?”

Lady Luck looked to her wrist. Sure enough, the bracelet was still on her. She’d actually forgotten about it for a second, but her rage came back full force.

“Yes, it is,” Lady Luck said, taking it off her wrist and handing it to her dad. “It was taken by a, uh, small trickster faerie that Chat was supposed to be keeping an eye on.”

Chat gave her a look that was half-way between ‘are you really throwing me under the bus?’ and ‘Trickster Faerie? Really’. Well, it’s not like she had time to explain what a Kwami is.

“See,” Roger said. “I knew that Bakery kid didn’t take it.”

“Right,” the Mayor nodded. “I do apologize for what all happened. And for firing you.”

“Don’t be,” Lady Luck said.

“Lucky,” Chat warned.

“What?” She snapped. “While I-er Miss Bourgeois was wrong about who, she was suggesting the most likely suspect she knew! And her bracelet was stolen! An officer of the law is supposed to investigate crimes!”

“Hey,” Roger defended. “I didn’t know anything about Trickster Faeries.”

“But you knew the bracelet was stolen!” she snapped back. “You could’ve looked for it! Offered to search the bags of everyone in the room! But you did nothing except dismiss the victim’s claims and make her feel terrified! Then, you had the audacity to get Akumatized by it!”

“How do you know about that?” the Mayor asked.

“Stopped by the class while looking for the Akuma,” Chat answered quickly.

“Look,” Roger said. “No offense to you, Mayor Bourgeois, but I know Chloé can be a bit… dramatic at times. I figured she just put it in the wrong pocket of her purse. Or it rolled away when that kid tripped over it.”

“And look how wrong you were!” Lady Luck shouted. “If it had been one of her classmates, they would’ve gotten away with it because of you! Is this how you handle your cases? The bracelet wasn’t stolen, just misplaced by a bratty teenager! There was no assault, just someone tripping and getting bruises! There’s no way something happened to the woman who disappeared, she just decided to leave her husband and son for no good reason!”

She was shaking, panting heavily. She didn’t like cops like him. There may be good ones, but the ones she interacted with weren’t them. They got an idea in their head about how things went down, and try to make the puzzle pieces fit.

And okay, perhaps she was taking her rage at other cops out on him. Roger wasn’t one of the ones that investigated Emilie Agreste’s disappearance. The ones who decided that she left Gabriel and Adrien and even her, despite how happy she was here. 

Still, he was just like them. And for a minute, she was content to let him stay fired. Then she saw his expression, and god he looked too much like his daughter. If he lost his job, it would hurt Sabrina. If it happened because of Chloé, Sabrina would hate her. After she had just decided to try and fix things.

A shuddering breath, and the sobering beep of her earrings, and Lady Luck calmed down. A voice in the back of her mind that sounded suspiciously like Tikki reminded her to be nice.

“Luckily for you,” Lady Luck said. “Miss Bourgeois believes in second chances. She highly suggests that you are given your job back, given that next time you do some actual investigation. Come on, Chat. Let’s get out of here.”

She grabbed his hand and ran. They didn’t stop until they were back at the school. Once they could stop and take a breath, Chloé felt Tikki on her cheek.

“I’m sorry,” Tikki said.

“For what?” Chloé asked.

“Asking you to apologize to Officer Raincomprix,” she said. “I was focusing on how you were wrong about Marinette stealing your bracelet and not on how hurt you were by him dismissing you.”

“It’s okay,” she sighed.

“Is it?” Adrien asked. “I know you were thinking about mom.”

“And you weren’t?” she shook her head. “I just… he asked me if I put the bracelet in another pocket on my purse, and all I could see was those detectives looking for Emilie. No matter how I yelled at them to go look, check anything they could think of, they assured me that she just decided to leave instead of getting a proper divorce. Fuck, the things they implied about Gabriel…”

“I know,” he said. “I remember them asking me stuff about him and their relationship. I know my father isn’t the warmest person, but she loved him like that. She had no reason to leave.”

Plagg dropped onto Adrien’s shoulder, nuzzling against his cheek and purring. Not that the tiny creature would admit to being a comforting presence.

“Let’s get back to class,” she said.

Everyone was still settling back in when they returned. Listening to them talk, some had been hit by Rogercop’s powers, others had run to hide when Adrien and Chloé bolted. Alya had chased after the Akuma, but given up after the flying car got involved, resigning herself to hosting other livestreams.

Including, somehow, the fight in the mayor’s office. Apparently the camera that had been broadcasting was still running when Lady Luck tore Roger a new one.

Chloé wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Her near-breakdown was broadcasted to the city and was now being speculated over. The only solace was that enough people in the city had similar feelings, that it probably wouldn’t be connected back to her.

“Hey, Sabrina,” Marinette said, walking up to the girl in question. “I just wanted to apologize. I was throwing accusations without any proof. And I shouldn’t have done that.”

“You… what?” Sabrina shook her head. “That’s not what you were doing?”

“I didn’t have any proof you took the bracelet,” she said. “Just like Chloé didn’t have any proof it was me.”

“I’m right here,” Chloé said. “And do you want to know what proof I had to blame you? You were in the room. And barring any ‘Trickster Faeries’, someone in the room had to do it.”

“Exactly,” Sabrina said. “I’ll admit I didn’t have a motive, really. But I was just as much a suspect. And I really have no clue what my dad was doing today.”

“I…” Marinette shook her head. “Still, sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “And I’m sure Chloé’s sorry for accusing you.”

“While I still say you were the best suspect,” Chloé said. “I was wrong. So, you know. Sorry for trying to find the culprit.”

Marinette stared at her, but eventually went back to her own seat.

* * *

In all the commotion throughout the day, Chloé didn’t remember her bracelet until she was back home. As she sat in the balcony garden she’d made for Tikki, she looked over the bracelet again.

“Is there any way to see what kind of enchantment this has?” Chloé asked.

“Not that I can see,” Tikki mused, looking it over. “There isn’t any Magic engraving, so it’s probably in the gems, not the metal. I think what happened is that someone enchanted a gem, and then the gem ended up getting cut into these smaller stones and put in without the jeweler noticing.”

“Can you tell if it’s dangerous?” she asked.

“I think it’s safe,” she said. “Whatever the enchantment is, it’s pretty low-level. It’s just a kind of Magic that doesn’t typically mix with the Miraculous.”

Putting the bracelet back on, she concentrated on it. She was used to using Magic through the Miraculous, but this felt different. The Miraculous’s power felt borrowed. A little bit hers, and a little bit it’s own thing.

The energy she put into the bracelet was entirely her own. It felt warm. Like the sun on her skin. No. More like fire. A spark at first. Then like the kind of fire in a fireplace. With people gathered around.

Then, the gems on the bracelet went from blue to a bright, glowing red, and that fire turned into an inferno.

Very quickly, she aimed her arm up into the air. Just in time for a blast of fire to shoot out. She watched in a mixture of awe and terror as the flames bloomed into the shape of a bird, and then dispersed, fizzling without anything to burn.

“Yikes,” Chloé said, taking the bracelet off. “Really glad I didn’t try that inside.”

“Don’t worry,” Tikki said. “It was Magic Fire. It only burns what you want it to.”

“You sure?” she wondered.

“Yep,” she said.

Okay, that could be useful. Though a bit too destructive. And the Miraculous Cure probably wouldn’t help it.

Her phone started ringing. It didn’t take Magic to guess why.

“Hey, Adrikitty,” Chloé said as she picked up the call.

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked. “There was an explosion in the sky and it looked like it came from the hotel?”

“Yeah, about that,” she said. “Remember how Tikki and Plagg said that bracelet was enchanted?”

“Oh no.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phoenix Symbolism? In my redemption arc story? It's more likely than you think!
> 
> Seriously though this episode is probably one of the ones I am the saltiest over without anyone being technically 'ooc'. Both Chloé and Marinette were in the right, but were treated like jerks. Especially Chloé.


	12. Dark Cupid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Featuring a panic attack and a friendly reminder that I hate Audrey with all of my heart and soul!

“So what do you think?” Adrien asked.

Chloé held the phone away from her ear and sighed, looking to see her Kwami was just as exasperated. Tikki sat on her shoulder as they walked. They weren’t too worried about her being seen, as she was mostly hidden by both Chloé’s hair and the arm holding her phone to her ear. But also because if anyone saw her, they could easily use Tikki’s color scheme to brush her off as a Valentine gift. 

“I think,” Chloé said. “That I am done with hearing cheesy poetry. ‘Your hair is dark as night, your pretty bluebell eyes’. Gag me. Can’t you just buy her a truck full of roses?”

“You’re just jealous you don’t have a Valentine,” Adrien replied. “Unless you count that date with Alix the other week.”

“It wasn’t a date, asshole,” she said, despite the heat in her face. “It was a ‘sorry I tried to kill you in an alternate timeline’ trip for ice cream. Besides, Marinette hasn’t said yes yet so she’s not your Valentine!”

“But she does like me,” he countered. “She already fell for me a little as Chat Noir, so why would ‘Adrien’ be any different?”

“Maybe you should just show up to class in tight leather pants,” she suggested. “Seriously though, if you go with that poem, change the ‘I hope you’ll one day love more than the strong disguise’ thing. It’s like you’re begging her to figure it out. And if she figures you out, she’ll figure me out, and I don’t want to deal with that.”

“Also you’re supposed to keep your secret identity,” Tikki reminded her.

Chloé shook her head fondly as she came up on the Pont des Arts. The bridge was a little wet, probably from last night’s rain. Half way across, she noticed Kim, who seemed to be waiting for someone.

“What are you doing here?” Chloé asked on reflex.

“I-I, uh…” Kim said nervously, kneeling down on the wet bridge and pulling out a box. “Will you be my Valentine?”

Well. That was entirely unexpected. For a good twenty seconds, Chloé just kinda stood there. Staring. God it almost looked like he was proposing! Good thing that was a brooch and not a ring, or else she would’ve gone from shock to straight up panic real quick.

What snapped her out of it was a biker going past, splashing through a puddle at them. Chloé jumped back to dodge the disgusting water, but Kim got a bit soaked. Then, just to add insult to injury, a stray chip bag blew into his face.

“I, uh, not interested?” Chloé stammered out. “Sorry, I guess? I’m just- I’m just gonna go now.”

And with that, she bolted. By the time she stopped, she was a block away. Thankfully Tikki had held onto her jacket, or else the little Kwami would’ve fallen off the bridge.

“Are you okay?” Adrien’s voice came from her phone.

“Yeah,” Chloé said, returning to their conversation. “Fine. Just confused.”

“Random guy ask you to be his Valentine?” he asked.

“Not a rando,” she said. “It was Kim.”

“Kim?” he asked. “Like, Kim from our class? That Kim?”

“Yep,” she said. “And I have no idea why in the world he would want me as his Valentine.”

“Well, you are objectively pretty,” he said.

“True,” she nodded. “But seriously. All he knows me as is a total bitch. So I have no idea why he’d be into me. Seriously, is there an Akuma? I wouldn’t be surprised if some Cupid-themed one shows up.”

“Not that I-“ he paused. “Huh. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. Just got an alert.”

Pulling the phone away, Chloé clicked over to her Akuma News app. Sure enough, some Cupid-themed Akuma was flying around. Nearby too. She took in the red and black color scheme, a little pissed that someone was stealing her look. Though he looked familiar, especially the brooch attached to his sash.

Wait a second.

“FUCK!” Chloé shouted. “There’s a ton of people in Paris either getting rejected or full of anxiety about confessing their feelings, and this son of a bitch has to target me?!”

“What’s going on?” Adrien asked.

“Guess Kim’s bad at handling rejection,” she said. “Because that’s him. I’m gonna hang up and find a ‘spot’ to hide.”

“I think everyone’s bad at handling rejection when Hawkmoth’s involved,” he said. “See you soon.”

Shoving her phone in her pocket, Chloé ducked into the nearest alleyway. Once making sure no one was going to follow her, even checking above for ‘Dark Cupid’, she prepared for the fight.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

Choosing to climb to the rooftops, Lady Luck hung back for a moment, surveying the situation. There was at least one up side to this. While ‘Dark Cupid’ wasn’t good at handling rejection, his power was to turn love into hate, not force people into love. Good. Less entitled about it. Just pessimistic and depressing.

Still, watching couples and even friends get hit and torn apart was actually a little hard to watch. It wasn’t as bad when both got hit, as they turned to fighting. But if one got hit and the other didn’t, well, she couldn’t hear what was said, but the expressions said enough.

As Dark Cupid took aim at another couple, Lady Luck threw her yoyo at his arm. His shot went wide, hitting the side of the building, and he turned to glare at her.

“Any chance you want to do this quietly?” Lady Luck asked.

“If I can’t have love, then no one can!” Dark Cupid shouted, taking aim at her. “I won’t stop until everyone’s heart is crushed! Say adios to your loved ones! From now on, you’ll hate them!”

Swinging away, she dodged his shots. It didn’t take long for Chat Noir to show up and fall into step with her.

“Let’s send him on a wild goose chase,” Lady Luck said. “Get him so distracted looking for ‘me’ that he forgets about us!”

“Might work,” Chat Noir said. “But how pissed is he going to be when he can’t find you?”

She didn’t really want to think about that. Especially if anyone realizes how thoroughly ‘hidden’ she was. Hopefully they’d catch him before that.

All it took was a misstep. Some trash in the way or a slippery bit of road, and suddenly her partner was no longer next to her. Lady Luck skidded to a stop, turning to help.

It felt like slow motion, the arrow flying, throwing her yoyo. Just barely missing. The yoyo hit, but only changed the trajectory a little, striking Chat’s leg instead of his back.

She still ran forward, despite everything saying not to make herself a target. She had to check on him, see if he was okay. Desperate hope played in her mind, wondering if their Transformations might protect them.

That was thrown out the window, seeing the black lipstick and the feral hiss he let out.

“Get your hands off me!” Chat shouted.

“Chat, it’s me,” Lady Luck said. “Come on, you’re under Dark Cupid’s spell, but you can fight it. You know me.”

“Yeah, I do,” he snarled. “Why would I want to be friends with someone like you? A jerk? A bully? All you do is terrorize your classmates!”

“I’m trying to be better,” she said, her voice barely audible.

Not the right thing to say. He just laughed, cackled really. Giving a too-wide smile, emphasized by the black lipstick and eyes that looked like he was preparing to pounce.

“A pretty pathetic attempt,” Chat said. “You teased one over his crush, you broke someone’s possessions, you tried to get a girl expelled, and another man fired. How many times have you apologized for that? How many times have you apologized for anything you did before your ‘attempt’ at being nice? How many times have you actively tried to be nicer?”

She didn’t have an answer for that. There were things she wanted to say. Some sort of defense. But all died before they were properly formed.

“Exactly,” Chat scoffed. “Why would I, or anyone for that matter, want to be around someone like you? Your only talents are in terrorizing your peers. In every other aspect? You’re just, well, unexceptional.”

Unexceptional.

Unexceptional.

Unexceptional.

The word echoed around in her head. Other sounds were underneath that, but so many at once that it was all a buzzing. Ringing in her ears.

She wasn’t on the street anymore. She was home, in the hotel. Or maybe at school. At the Agreste mansion. Maybe nowhere at all.

It was spinning. Was she screaming? Crying? She wasn’t sure anymore. She wasn’t sure she existed anymore.

Eventually everything began to come into focus again. First her surroundings, some alleyway that was very filthy but not filthy enough for her to care right now. Then the feeling of the brick wall she leaned against and dried tears on her cheeks. Finally the sound, from cars driving by to her own ragged breathing.

She must’ve run. Since nothing was still chasing her, she must’ve lost them. Lost… god the idea of losing Chat again almost sent her back. But she pulled it together. She was Lady Luck, and she had a job to do.

“Lucky Charm!”

The object that fell into her hands was a plush doll of sorts. It was difficult to tell all the details, as it was fully red with black spots. But she recognized that it was human-shaped. Except for the ears and tail.

A Chat Noir doll. Cute. But there was something else about it that she recognized. It took a moment to properly put her finger on it. Then she realized that this wasn’t a replica of anything Miraculous Merchandising™ had made.

No. She’d seen this when she and Sabrina had gone to Marinette’s house to work on that project for Mendeleive’s class. Marinette had been making a few dolls like this. The Chat one had been complete, though Lady Luck was missing her right arm and left leg, and Lady Wifi was just a head and torso.

What did it mean though? Did she need Marinette? She would prefer not to do that. Keeping civilians safe was a priority. The only reason she’d broken that rule with Evillustrator was because Marinette had been a target anyway. Bringing her in to this was dangerous.

Then she remembered class earlier. The old trope of ‘Love conquering Hate’. She’d tried that already, but… as much as she was putting off facing that, the brainwashed version of her friend did have a point. There were many reasons to not love her.

Marinette, however, was different. She was sweet and kind and while she might have her flaws, there wasn’t anything that would make Chat hate her. Not like anything about Chloé. There were so many reasons to hate Chloé, but only a completely heartless bitch would hate her.

Swallowing down all that, she made a decision. Her first stop was the Agreste mansion, swinging through Adrien’s bedroom window. His notebook was still on his desk, open to the page he’d been writing on before he left.

The next stop was thankfully short. By the time she dropped onto Marinette’s balcony, she was reminded of her time limit by the beep of her earrings. Deciding it was better to hide inside than stay up here, she knocked on the trapdoor. It didn’t take long for those pigtails to pop out of the hatch.

“Hi?” Marinette said, tilting her head at her. “Are you okay?”

“Just need a few favors,” Lady Luck said, slipping through the trapdoor and down from the loft. “First is a place to hide because my transformation’s almost up.”

“Oh, uh, I think there’s room in the closet?” she said, following her down.

“Great!” she said, opening the door. “Not much room, but I can deal with it for a few minutes.”

Thankfully it was a tiny walk-in instead of just an alcove with just a clothes rack. She closed the door and leaned against it, giving a shuddering breath as her transformation dropped.

“Are you okay?” Tikki asked.

“Fine,” Chloé answered.

“Are you talking to yourself?” Marinette asked from the other side of the door.

“Uh, not exactly?” she said.

Chloé looked to Tikki, wondering how much she could say. Tikki mostly shrugged and gave her a ‘try your best’ expression. Well. She had to ask for cookies anyway.

“Each Miraculous has a little faerie creature attached to it called a Kwami,” Chloé said. “She disappears when I’m in costume, but now that I ran out of time, she’s back.”

“Faerie creature?” Marinette repeated. “Didn’t you mention something like that when Sabrina’s dad was Akumatized?”

“Yep,” she said. “That time I was talking about Chat’s Kwami, Plagg. Mine’s Tikki. Speaking of, she needs cookies to recharge. Since you live in a bakery, I don’t think that’s much of a problem.”

“Right,” she said. “I’ll be right back with a few.”

She heard Marinette’s footsteps head through the room and down stairs. Looking at the items still in her hands, Chloé noticed that the Lucky Charm hadn’t disappeared. The little doll was hugged tightly as Tikki nuzzled her cheek.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Tikki asked.

“No,” Chloé admitted. “But I have to be, don’t I? I’m not allowed to be sad or upset. Lady Luck can’t risk being vulnerable to Akumatization. And Chloé has no reason to be, with all that money and a dad that showers her in gifts.”

“Yes, you are,” she said. “It’s okay to feel that way. As long as you don’t let it hurt you or others.”

All too soon, Marinette’s footsteps were back in the room. Chloé stayed quiet. She was unsure of how to open the door without letting Marinette see her. Though Tikki took care of that, and phased through the door.

“Bug mouse!” Marinette screamed.

“Hi,” Tikki said. “I’m Lady Luck’s Kwami.”

“You were expecting more of a ‘tiny person’ when I said, faerie, weren’t you?” Chloé asked.

She could easily imagine Marinette’s pout on the other side of the door. It was amusing. And different. It was teasing, but more like how she was with Adrien than her usual insults. It was nice.

That train of thought brought her back to here and now. The things Chat had said. How true it was.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Marinette asked. “You looked like you were crying earlier.”

“You could see the tears through the mask?” Chloé asked. “Ugh. That sounds like some lame emo song. ‘Oh no. I’m depressed but I don’t want to tell you! You can’t see the tears through my mask!. Remind me to never start a band because that will be the only song lyric I can think of and I do not want that as part of my legacy.”

“I think you could pull it off,” she laughed. “But you were crying, weren’t you?”

Chloé curled up again, her hands clenched tightly around the Lucky Charm. Hugging it close, she debated on what to say. It was almost too easy to talk to her, when Marinette didn’t know it was her.

“Have you seen the Akuma running around?” Chloé asked.

“I got the alert,” Marinette answered. “Dark Cupid. The news stations are saying he can make people hate each other.”

“He turns love into hate,” she said. “Chat- Chat got hit. When someone who loves you suddenly turns on you, they know what buttons to hit to really make it hurt.”

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I wish I could help, but-“

“You can,” she said. “I need to snap Chat out of Dark Cupid’s spell. And you’re a better choice than I am.”

“I don’t think I’d be a better choice!” she exclaimed. “I-I mean, you actually know him! While you two never gave an official statement, everyone knows you two are really close! If you can’t snap him out of it, what chance do I have?”

“You have a much better chance than I do,” she said. “Chat has plenty of reasons to hate me. I’m… not the best person. Or a good person at all, really.”

“You’re a superhero,” she countered. “You can’t be a bad person if you risk your own life to save us all the time.”

“You’d be surprised,” she said. “I’m kind of a jerk. To everyone. Even my friends sometimes.”

“Hey, as long as you’re not as bad as this girl from my class, you’ll be fine!” she said.

Well wasn’t that just a punch in the gut? She curled up more, even with Tikki having flown back through the door to comfort her. It really sank in how differently people saw ‘Chloé’ versus how they saw ‘Lady Luck’.

The whole thing reminded her of a song. ‘I always thought I might be bad, now I’m sure that it’s true. Because I think you’re so good, and I’m nothing like you.’. She was both ‘Chloé’ and ‘Lady Luck’, yet one was loved, just because she wasn’t the other.

“Do you think people can change?” Chloé wondered.

“Of course,” Marinette answered.

“Even that girl in your class?” she asked.

“If she wanted to,” she said. “Problem is, Chloé doesn’t want to. Why would she? She already gets everything she wants by acting like she does. What would make her want to be better?”

Some part of her wanted to just state outright that no, despite all of that, Chloé never got everything she wanted. She got fancy gifts, the newest toys, all the material items she could imagine. All of it as a replacement for the things she does want.

A mother who stays and at least pays attention long enough to remember her name. A father who tries to help her instead of buying gifts to distract her from her problems. Outside of the occasional teacher that saw through her antics, the closest things to good adults in her life have been her best friend’s parents. One of whom was missing, while the other slipped into being worse and worse as a result.

But she didn’t. Because now wasn’t the time. Because Lady Luck had to go be a hero.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

Fruitlessly wiping at her face through the mask, Lady Luck walked back out of the closet.

“Anyway, I need your help to snap Chat out of the spell,” Lady Luck said, ignoring her own inner turmoil.

“I still don’t think I can do much,” Marinette said.

“You can,” she said, handing over the Lucky Charm. “My Lucky Charm led me to you. And just in case you need more convincing, this is Chat’s notebook. He’s been driving me crazy trying to write sappy poetry. For you. As a Valentine’s Day present.”

Marinette took both items, looking at the doll before glancing to the one currently on her desk. Then her gaze turned to the notebook, reading it. Her eyes had a soft look that made Lady Luck debate whether to go ‘awww’ or gag. Or just groan because she knew that this would end up adding fuel to the fire of the ‘love triangle’.

“That’s sweet,” Marinette said, smiling at the words. “I- are you sure it’s for me? I know there have to be other girls who-“

“Bluebell eyes and hair as dark as night,” Lady Luck said. “You’re the only one he knows like that. Besides, he told me it was specifically for you.”

There was determination and fire in her eyes now. As soon as she handed the Lucky Charm and notebook back, Marinette was a whirlwind around the room. It seemed to only take her a few seconds to brush her hair and touch up her makeup, along with grabbing a heart-shaped pastry box.

“Bringing some snacks for the road?” Lady Luck asked

“Well…” Marinette began. “I didn’t know if I’d be seeing you or Chat Noir today. But if I did, I wanted to give him a gift too. Heart-shaped passionfruit macarons.”

“Passion fruit is his favorite,” she said.

“I know,” she said. “I asked. Back-back when we were, uh, setting up the Evilustrator thing.”

These two idiots were perfect for each other. If only secret identities and that whole ‘Adrien is friends with Chloé’ thing didn’t get in the way of it.

The girls climbed back onto the balcony, and swung back across the city. Marinette held tightly to Lady Luck, trusting her completely. And oh boy did that hurt emotionally.

They found Chat running around in a park, practically waiting for them. Lady Luck dropped a little bit away, shielding Marinette on instinct. Looking to the sky, she couldn’t see Dark Cupid anywhere.

“Stay back at first,” Lady Luck instructed. “I’m going to try and tie him up. If something… If something happens to me, try to grab my earrings and then get your ass to safety.”

“You don’t think he’ll actually hurt you, right?” Marinette asked.

“Chat loves deeply,” she said. “Strongly. Usually he loves even strangers too much to wish harm on jerks. That reversed into hate… I don’t want to know what Cataclysm could do to a person.”

While Marinette shuddered at the thought, Lady Luck approached, yoyo at the ready. Chat only grinned at her. The expression so twisted on his face.

“Well, isn’t it our wonderful Lady Luck!” Chat cackled. “Back to face how unexceptional you are?”

God she felt sick at that word. But she pushed it down. She wouldn’t blank out again. Not here. Not now.

Not trusting herself to speak, she threw her yoyo at him. He blocked it with his baton, launching at her. She ducked under him.

He tried again, this time extending the baton to try and hit her. She grabbed it with both hands. When he tried to pull it away, she brought her leg up and hooked it over the midpoint, using it as extra leverage. Though she managed to wrench it out of his hands, she toppled to the ground.

Chat pounced at her, but Lady Luck threw her yoyo at a light post and dragged herself away. If it were any other time she’d complain about how much dirt got on her costume from that, but she didn’t have time for that.

“Cataclysm!”

Fuck. Now Lady Luck had to be extra careful. Perhaps she could throw something at him to take the Cataclysm for her? Either way, she now had to do this before his timer ran out, or else his identity would be known to anyone who was watching.

Right as she was beginning to strategize, something hit Chat in the face. The box of passionfruit macaroons. Not bothering to yell at Marinette for drawing attention to herself, Lady Luck threw her yoyo, tangling Chat while he was still disoriented.

She had yet to truly test out the Magical aiming of the yoyo, but it somehow guided itself, tangling Chat in such a way that when she pulled him toward the light post, the hand with Cataclysm was stretched out, unable to touch even the yoyo’s cord or the light post itself. Interesting, but something she’d have to test again later.

“Couldn’t take me down without help, could you?” Chat scoffed.

“Chat, stop,” Marinette said, coming forward now that he wasn’t a threat. “You’re under a spell.”

“Or maybe I’ve finally seen the light,” he bit back. “You wouldn’t be defending her if you knew who she really was. Nothing but a spoiled brat taking her mommy issues out on her classmates!”

“Shut up,” Lady Luck whispered.

“Chat,” Marinette said. “I- I read the poem you wrote.”

“So what?” Chat asked. “You’re nothing to me now.”

That made her shudder, but she kept her determination. Stepping closer, though keeping an eye on his Cataclysm, Marinette put a hand on his cheek. He flinched away, bit couldn’t back up.

Out of the corner of her eye, Lady Luck saw movement. At first she thought it was Dark Cupid, but it was just a civilian. A civilian who was quickly pulling out his phone to snap a picture of them.

That was bad. It was one thing if it was just her and Chat, but she didn’t want Marinette’s face plastered over the news. It might get Hawkmoth’s attention. And as much as Chat liked being the ‘Knight in Shining Leather’, saving Marinette all the time was going to be a pain.

Lady Luck still had her Lucky Charm attached to her belt. Grabbing it, she chucked it at the civilian, knocking his phone out of his hand. Honestly a small part of her relished the offended expression he gave, but she just leveled him with a glare.

“I have an answer for your poem,” Marinette said. “Your hair shines like the sun, your eyes are gorgeous green. I look at you and wonder your innermost thoughts and dreams. Yes, your Valentine I will be, our love will be so true, together for eternity, my heart belongs to you.”

The snarl on Chat’s face lessened. It completely disappeared as Marinette leaned in, pushing herself up on her toes to kiss him. It was so sappy and sweet, right out of some Magical Girl anime. Which made Lady Luck want to gag. They were definitely perfect for each other.

Unfortunatley, she didn’t have time to do that. Or tease them. Because there was a certain red and black shape flying through the skyline.

“Huh?” Chat asked as soon as Marinette backed up. “What… happened?”

“No time, kitten!” Lady Luck said. “Just be sure to grab that brooch!”

She pulled the yoyo, untangling it enough to free Chat from the light post and them flinging him through the air. Right into an incoming Dark Cupid.

While he didn’t hit the brooch, he did hit the strap that kept the quiver on Dark Cupid’s back. The brooch fell as Dark Cupid attempted to wrestle Chat off him in midair.

Lady Luck ran up to catch it, before smashing it into the ground. The Butterfly emerged and was quickly snapped up by the yoyo.

“See you around, little Butterfly.”

After that, Lady Luck went up to the civilian who had been trying to take a picture to retrieve the Lucky Charm.

“What kind of Superhero breaks a civilian’s property?” the man demanded.

“I don’t know,” Lady Luck replied. “The kind who is trying to keep a civilian from endangering another civilian by taking a picture of her with said Superhero? Since that would make a teenage girl quite a target, don’t you think?”

The man had the decency to look ashamed. Rolling her eyes, she snatched the doll from his hands and threw it into the air.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

As the wave of Magic fixed everyone under Dark Cupid’s spell, along with the civilian’s phone and Marinette’s pastry box, Lady Luck ran back to where Chat and a detransformed Kim were landing.

“Thanks again for the help, but we have to go!” Lady Luck said, grabbing Chat Noir as his ring beeped. “You don’t mind explaining things to this one while we bounce?”

“Wouldn’t want you turning into pumpkins on us,” Marinette said. “Oh, don’t forget the macaroons though!”

“Of course,” she said, taking the box.

Before either of the boys could say anything, she plopped the box into Chat’s hands, put an arm around his waist, and used her yoyo to swing them away.

As she made her way to the balcony of her hotel, Lady Luck could feel herself crashing. Not just from the adrenaline drop, but from the emotional toll the day had been.

Chat’s transformation ran out after they went through the doors. As she sat on the bed, her own transformation dropped as well. Both Kwamis floated over to the snack stash.

It took all of five seconds for Adrien to be in her space, holding her hand and wiping old tear tracks away.

“What happened?” Adrien asked. “I mean, I know I got hit but what all did I say?“

“You said a lot of things,” Chloé said. “About how I’m just a jerk. I think the exact phrase you used was ‘a spoiled brat taking out her mommy issues on others’. And about how my efforts to change that have been half-assed at best.”

“Chloé,” he sighed. “I-I’m sorry. You know I would never-“

“You called me Unexceptional,” she said, giving up and laying her head on his chest.

“Fuck,” he said.

“Yeah,” she said. “But… I think you were right.”

“I just said I wasn’t!” he said, pushing back to look her in the face. “You are exceptional. No matter what… no matter what anyone thinks.”

“Of course I am,” she said, only half believing that. “But I meant about half-assing the attempts to change. I haven’t really… I know I made up with Sabrina, and I’m trying there. But I mostly just… don’t interact unless I have to. And when I do, it’s mostly neutral. Sometimes rude because old habits are hard to break, but still.”

“That’s better than before,” he said.

“I could do more,” she said. “I could try apologizing more. Or try interacting more. Positive interaction.”

“We can work on it,” he said. “I don’t expect you to be perfect immediately. But this is progress. It’s a good thing. I’m sorry it came from me getting Magicked into hating you.”

“Well, it wasn’t a total loss,” she said, mustering up a mischievous grin. “You did get your Valentine.”

“What?” he asked.

“Please tell me you remember,” she sighed, grin dropping.

“I remember getting hit and then you yeeting me at Dark Cupid?” he said.

Chloé groaned, flopping back onto the bed. Of course he didn’t remember. If he couldn’t remember what he said to her, why would he remember the kiss?

“The macaroons are for you,” Chloé said. “I had to drag Marinette in for some ‘True Love’s Kiss’ bullshit.”

“Hold up,” Adrien said. “Are you saying she kissed me, and I don’t even get to remember it?!”

“Yep,” she sighed. “She even thought up a response to your cheesy poem. Nearly made me vomit on the spot. You’re perfect for each other.”

“So,” he huffed, flopping down next to her. “Should I be happy that she likes me, or upset that it reinforced her love for ‘Chat’ instead of making her fall for ‘Adrien’?”

“Just eat your damn cookies.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still have no idea why Kim liked Chloé. I mean, I love Chloé. Obviously. That's why I'm writing this fic. I'm a person who knows the whole story and is giving her a redemption arc. Kim only knows the girl who's a jerk for no reason.


	13. Horrificator

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They really run in circles in this episode, don't they? From the classroom, to the courtyard, to the classroom, to the office, to the classroom, to the courtyard and finally the basement.

Chloé sighed as the scene was ruined, again. She’d been getting impatient by the fourth take. But by now, everyone else was getting a bit snippy too. How’d she even get dragged into this lame, low-budget production again?

“Mylène!” Nino groaned. “That’s, like, the tenth take, and we’re only on the first scene!”

“Fourteenth actually,” Alix said. “But who’s counting.”

Chloé laughed a little, looking back at the pink-haired skater. Right. That was why. Between Adrien and Alix asking her to participate, how could she not?

“I’m sorry,” Mylène said, peeking out from under the desk. “I’m gonna do better on the next take, I promise!”

Everyone stared at the girl. That’s what she’d promised the last thirteen times. While Chloé was glad that her annoyance was shared, she was pretty close to snapping.

“You’re playing a hero from the special forces,” Nino sighed. “You’re not supposed to get freaked out!”

“I know, but,” Mylène swallowed. “That monster mask he’s wearing is so… realistic and scary!”

“Just big ol’ me,” Ivan assured her. “Nothing to be scared of!”

“Ivan, put the mask back on,” Nino said, setting up the shot again. “You’re playing the monster. And Mylène, we need you to stay in character!”

Ivan complied with the request, but Mylène quickly became frightened again. She began singing some ridiculous song to herself as she backed away from her costumed boyfriend. Not looking where she was going.

Eventually she bumped into Adrien, causing her to scream again.

“Seriously?” Chloé finally snapped. “Why did you even sign up to be the lead in a horror film if you’re just going to ruin every take by screaming?!”

And now they were all glaring at her. Great. And of course, Mylène started crying and ran out. Ivan followed, calling for her to come back. Meanwhile, everyone else glared more.

“Epic, Chloé,” Nino yelled at her. “Just epic! What are we supposed to do now without out leading actress?”

“It was a legit question!” Chloé yelled back. “Fourteen takes and we have jack shit to show for it!”

“And now Mylène is crying her eyes out in the bathroom,” Ivan said as he returned. “Thanks to you.”

“Everyone, chill out!” Marinette commanded. “Chloé was out of line, as usual. But fighting isn’t going to bring Mylène back. I’m the producer, and I’m going to do everything in my power to finish filming tonight!”

“The deadline for the film festival is tomorrow evening,” Max said “Precisely twenty six hours, fifteen minutes, and fourteen-thirteen seconds from now.”

“Thank you, Max,” she said. “And we still have editing, post-sound, soundtrack…”

“And who’s going to play Mylène’s part?” Adrien wondered.

“Well,” Chloé said. “I think-“

“You’re not playing the part,” Alya said. “Especially since you got rid of Mylène just to do it.”

“Please,” Chloé scoffed. “If I wanted to use underhanded tactics to get the lead, I would’ve bribed you with funding this little production. Besides, I was going to suggest Marinette.”

“Why?” Adrien asked, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.

And at that, Chloé just gave him a Cheshire grin. He knew he was in trouble somehow. He just didn't know exactly what she was planning. Yet. 

“Because she volunteered to ‘do everything in her power to finish filming,” Chloé said. “And I read the script. The first scene ends with a kiss between Agent Smith and Officer Jones!”

“Hold up!” Alya shouted, grabbing a script while Adrien blushed red. “I didn’t write that!”

“Uh, I wrote it,” Nino admitted. “It was just a little tweak. You know, to move the story forward.”

“What!” she shouted, turning on him. “You edited my script without telling me! That’s low!”

“Wait a minute, you mean our script!” he retorted.

“Welcome to Hollywood,” Adrien sighed.

While Alya and Nino bickered about the script, Rose offered Adrien a cup of juice. He gratefully took it, guiltily glad that the fighting distracted the class from the kiss. Rolling her eyes, Chloé snagged the cup from him and took a drink out of it.

“Who cares who wrote what?” Chloé said. “We’ve got to film this thing, right?”

“She’s right,” Max admitted. “Principal Damocles is only allowing us to use school until six pm sharp. Which leaves us nine hours, twelve minutes and twelve seconds. Eleven, ten, nine, eight, seven, six…”

“You know what?” Adrien said, edging toward the door. “We should probably not worry about the kiss and just go find Mylène!”

“Get back here, kitten,” Chloé said.

She originally meant to pull him back by the back of his belt. But when he wriggled free and tried to walk out, she gave up on playing nice. Practically tackling him, she lifted him over her shoulder and carried him back in the room.

“When’d you get the muscle to do that?” Alix asked, looking her over.

“I’m full of surprises!” Chloé replied. “Now. Kim, Max, you two go find Mylène. We have to film without her, but she can take over a smaller part later. For now, Marinette, let Juleka slap some makeup on you and get ready to make out with blondie over here.”

While Juleka dragged Marinette off, and Alya and Nino continued to bicker about the script and how ‘Agent Smith does not need a man in her life right now’, Chloé put a very redfaced Adrien down.

“Did you have to do that?” Adrien asked.

“You were trying to leave,” Chloé answered, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t you want to kiss her?”

“Yeah, but not like this,” he said, glancing over at Marinette. “I mean, it’s kinda tricking her, you know? She doesn’t want to kiss me like I want to kiss her. Yet. And now really isn’t the time to tell her that.”

“Fair point,” she said. “But unless you want me to take over the scene and deal with that awkwardness, I suggest you take it.”

“Places, everybody!” Nino shouted, causing them all to scramble. “Ready to roll? Camera!”

“Horrificator, take fifteen,” Alix sighed.

Take fifteen was a no go, as Adrien was still a little too red in the face. Though everyone seemed to blame Chloé picking him up rather than Marinette. Or they were giving him a break. Likely the latter.

The sixteenth take was going pretty solidly. After the first fourteen takes with Mylène, Marinette already knew the lines well enough to not screw up. Though her actual acting skill needed a little work. And despite Alya’s protests, the kiss was happening.

Then, right as their lips were about to meet, there was screaming.

“Did you guys hear that?” Adrien asked, looking up toward the door as more screams rang out.

“I definitely heard that,” Marinette confirmed. “We’d better scope it out.”

Everyone ran out, with Rose offering a fruity snack for the road and Nino still filming. Great. Either they really were about to enter a horror movie, or they were about to find Kim and Max wrapped up in something stupid. Maybe both.

As they entered the courtyard, looking around and calling out for the missing boys, they found… something. A bunch of gross pink goo splattered all over and an armband. It looked oddly close to a horror movie. Which was unnerving. 

“That’s Kim’s!” Adrien exclaimed, looking at the armband.

“They vanished!” Nathaniel screamed, already panicking.

“Or they’re playing a sick joke on us,” Alya sighed.

“We should go to Principal Damocles office and tell him what’s going on!” Marinette said. “Nino, come on! Stop filming!”

“Not a chance!” Nino shook his head. “This is just getting good!”

“Yeah, I hear found footage horror is in,” Chloé said. “Honestly, considering Kim is involved, it’s absolutely a prank. I’m leaving.”

“And, I, uh,” Adrien stammered. “I left Officer Jones’ jacket back in the room! Should probably wear it in all the scenes!”

The pair bolted back into the classroom, closing the door and ducking out of sight. Plagg and Tikki appeared from wherever they were hiding. Though now Chloé was curious about what the small Kwamis got up to when they weren't around. Oh well. Questions for another time.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Chloé asked.

“That Mylène got Akumatized?” Adrien guessed, taking off his shoe.

“What are you doing?” Plagg asked.

“Leaving the shoe so they’ll think I disappeared,” he said.

“That’s brilliant!” Tikki said. “Then you’ll have an alibi!”

“They might notice the lack of pink goo,” Chloé pointed out.

“It’ll have to work,” Adrien said. “Unless you want to go out and gather some.”

Chloé made a face at the thought of touching that stuff. But she did concede to take off her jacket and dump it on the floor with Adrien’s shoe. She would not be putting it back on until it was cleaned though. Who knows what’s on the floor here.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

“Plagg, Claws Out!”

As soon as they were in costume, they ran back into the courtyard and toward where the class had been headed. They found them in the principal’s office, which was covered in that same pink goo. As were the windows. And now that they looked up, so was the sky.

The class was there, attempting to open the windows or get a cell signal. Neither of which was going well. 

“Is everything okay?” Lady Luck asked.

“Lady Luck in my movie?” Nino gasped. “This is legit!”

“And on my Luckyblog!” Alya practically squealed.

“I don’t think an evacuation will work,” Chat said, eyeing the window. “That seems pretty indestructible. Cataclysm might do the trick, but I only have one of those.”

“We should find the Akuma,” Lady Luck said. “Stick together, but stay behind us, okay?”

They made their way back, following a new goo trail that had appeared while they were talking. It lead back to the classroom. Why did it feel like they were going in circles? Was it another horror trope like the cell signal thing?

“Anyone recognize these?” Chat asked, pointing to the discarded items.

“That’s Adrien’s shoe!” Nino gasped, getting a closeup shot.

“And Chloé’s jacket!” Sabrina cried, picking it up. “I hope she’s okay.”

“Probably fine,” Alix said, giving a glance toward the Heroes. 

“That’s weird,” Marinette frowned. “There’s no pink slime in here.”

“Yes there is,” Nathaniel said from over by the teacher’s desk.

As soon as he said that, something snatched him. He screamed as the desk started shaking, making everyone back up. The desk was flung away, barely sailing over their heads, and revealed the Akuma.

It was a monster, based somewhat off Ivan’s costume. Large, kinda salamander-like, mostly pink but turning purple at the extremities and light blue tentacle-like ‘hair’. Three yellow eyes, a mouthful of sharp fangs and a blue tongue, dripping in slime. Not to mention claws and a tail that currently was dangling Nathaniel.

As it roared, most of the class ran, except for the Heroes, Nino who was filming, and Juleka who looked entranced. Even when the beast roared and got up in Juleka’s face, she just sounded wowed. For whatever reason, Horrificator shrank a bit.

“So awesome!” Juleka exclaimed.

“I know, right?” Lady Luck grinned, a little maniacally.

“Don’t you find it scary and gross?” Chat asked.

“Absolutely!” She said. “But look! It’s the first female Akuma that actually turned into a monster instead of just a normal girl in a pretty costume! It’s fucking sweet!”

“No swearing in my movie!” Nino shouted.

“How about you help me?!” Nathaniel screamed.

Horificator seemed to have enough of their antics, rearing back to spit goo. Lady Luck grabbed Juleka while Chat took Nino and dodged their way back to the courtyard. Again.

Setting down their ‘luggage’, Lady Luck and Chat got Horrificator’s attention. Chat tossed out a few taunts, but without a proper villain to return the banter, it fell a bit flat.

Lady Luck attempted to trip the Akuma up, tangling a yoyo around it’s leg and pulling it off balance. But it was too strong, using the yoyo to toss her around and throw her against the stairway’s railing. Before Lady Luck could fall, she was covered in goo.

“That’s disgusting!” Lady Luck screamed. “When I get out of here I’m going to take a fucking shower for three days! Maybe four! I’m sending Hawkdick the bill for my drycleaning!”

“No swearing!” Nino shouted at her again.

Chat got hit too, making the crowd scream again. Interestingly, every time they scream, Horrificator grew bigger.

Then the reverse was true as well! When Lady Luck and Juleka had expressed interest in it, she shrank. It literally feeds on fear. Good to know.

Horrificator lumbered toward the class, growing again at their fear. It paused for a moment, before licking Ivan, who just looked confused. Then it grabbed Alix, and pushed past them into the cellar door.

“It’s powered by fear,” Lady Luck said, squirming against the slime. “Calm down, and it’ll lose its power!”

“First we’ve got to get out of this sticky situation!” Chat said.

Thankfully, his hand and weapon were free. It was easy for him to extend the baton enough to crack open the hardening slime around Lady Luck. The moment she could move her hands again, she returned the favor with the yoyo.

“Guys,” Marinette gasped. “I think the monster… is Mylène!”

“Gee, you think?” Lady Luck said. “Who else here was upset and scared and likes Ivan enough to lick him? Can someone please tell me why a girl who gets frightened so easily volunteered to be in a horror movie?!”

“You’ve got a point,” Alya admitted.

“It did take fourteen takes,” Marinette said.

“She didn’t think it’d be that bad,” Ivan explained. “Especially since, you know. All the Akumas. But I think after the first scare she didn’t really have time to calm down before being scared again.”

“Okay, that’s on me,” Nino cringed. “I just wanted to get the show on the road, but she kept singing.”

Lady Luck felt her face twitch as they answered. She’d asked the same question as ‘Chloé’ and started this whole mess. But when ‘Lady Luck’ asked… Boy was she very close to screaming at them.

Thankfully Chat seemed to notice.

“Anyway!” Chat said. “She went down into the basement. I don’t think there’s another exit, so we can just go down, defeat her, and fix all of this!”

“I’m so amped!” Nino exclaimed.

“Turn your amp down to about four, alright?” Lady Luck sighed.

Stepping up, she lead the way, her hand on her yoyo and ready to fight. Chat followed up in the back, just in case Horrificator managed to slip by them in the vent system or something. The group went deeper and deeper into the underground of the school.

Finally reaching a room, they saw a sight worthy of a horror movie. Slime dripped from everywhere, and there were large, person-sized pods on the floor.

“Is anyone in here?” Lady Luck shouted, as if the monster would answer.

The monster didn’t answer, but other voices did. The classmates that went missing, along with Principal Damocles, all seemed to scream for help from within the pods. Great. Gross.

“Where’s Adrien?” Marinette wondered, frantically trying to search the pods.

“And Chloé!” Sabrina said, beginning a search with her. 

Chat ducked behind one of the pods, pretending to look. Lady Luck did the same.

“I’m fine!” Chat shouted, muffling his voice with his hand.

“Don’t worry about me!” Lady Luck shouted, using the same trick. “I’m just in here painting my nails! Because what else are you supposed to do when trapped in some ridiculous slime pod!”

That got everyone to calm down. For about five seconds. As soon as they stood back up, Horrificator dropped from the ceiling. A little too close for comfort!

Chat threw one of the goo pods, drawing the Akuma’s attention. While he got chased around the room, Lady Luck decided it was time for a little extra planning.

“Lucky Charm!”

Another item dropped into her hands. Two items, technically. Yet unlike the last few Lucky Charms, she didn’t need long to tell what it was.

“I haven’t played the violin in years!” Lady Luck groaned. “

"Maybe you hit her with 'violin-ce'!" Chat suggested, much to everyone's groaning.

“I think you would’ve gotten a guitar for that,” Rose said.

That was true. Though she was a little concerned that Rose was the one suggesting property damage. Perhaps she wasn’t as ‘bright, positive and cheery’ as she seemed. Well, she was. But it didn’t mean she didn’t have a darkside too.

While Lady Luck looked around for what she could use, Chat began using Cataclysm on some bars up above. Broken metal crashed down, effectively trapping Horrificator in a crudely made cage.

Getting an idea, Lady Luck began checking the violin to make sure it was in tune. But she needed everyone to join in, or else their fear would overpower her calm.

“What was that song Mylène was singing?” Lady Luck asked.

“What?” Sabrina asked.

“Ivan said she sang a song to calm down,” she said. “You know it, right?”

“Smelly wolf!” Marinette said. “That’s the song!”

“Seriously?” Chat asked, dropping down. “Smelly wolf?”

“It’s silly but it works,” Ivan shrugged.

“You guys know the lyrics better than I do, right?” Lady Luck asked. “Grab whatever you can as an instrument and start up!”

Luckily there was a convenient cart of items that can be used as makeshift drums, symbols, and microphones. Once everyone had grabbed something, Lady Luck just started playing and hoped she’d remember how. While she didn’t know the lyrics, she’d heard enough of the melody earlier to pick it up.

“Smelly wolf, smelly wolf, trapped in a stinky hut,” they sang. “Smelly wolf, smelly wolf, I’m gonna kick your –“

God this was a lame song.

But it was working. Despite Horrificator’s roars, it began to shrink. Lady Luck worried a little about it shrinking enough to get out of the ‘cage’ and attack. But it didn’t, shrinking too fast without proper fear.

By the time it was the size of a large housecat, it seemed far calmer. Not at all terrifying, though still a gross slime monster. No one even jumped when it wriggled past the bars and ran up to them.

In fact, Ivan seemed to find it almost cute, judging by his expression. Horrificator clambered up into his arms, licking his face. Okay, now it was weird.

“Hey,” Ivan said, taking something out of the Akuma’s ‘hair’. “This is the button I gave Mylène!”

“Any bets on where the Akuma is?” Lady Luck said.

She snagged the pin and dropped it to the ground, stomping on it with her heel. The Butterfly flew out, only to be caught by the yoyo.

“See you around, little Butterfly.”

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

* * *

Once everyone had gone back to the classroom, with Chloé and Adrien claiming to have ‘mysteriously been brought to a different storage spot’, things started going really well.

Mylène would still get scared when the ‘monster’ jumped out at her, but Nino learned to let her calm down between takes. They went from an average of fourteen takes a scene to just three, barring anyone screwing up their lines or tripping into frame.

Eventually they were just wrapping up. Which let Adrien pull Chloé aside.

“I think you should apologize to Mylène,” Adrien said.

“All I did was ask a legitimate question,” Chloé said. “The whole production had her scared and frustrated enough that Hawkmoth was probably planning on Akumatizing her before I said anything.”

“I know,” he said. “But it still hurt her.”

“That’s part of the whole thing,” Tikki said, taking the opportunity to fly out from her hiding place. “Even if you don’t mean to hurt them, you’re supposed to apologize.”

“Why?” Chloé asked. “I’m not purposely hurting her. I mean, yeah I apologized to Alix for accidentally breaking her watch but that was actually something I did, not a misunderstanding. And I also tried to kill her in an alternate timeline.”

“You apologize because you still hurt them,” she explained. “And they’re allowed to feel hurt. An apology recognizes that emotion, and lets them know that you care. I know it can be hard to apologize when you feel like you didn’t do anything wrong, and sometimes maybe clarifying what you were trying to do can help, but you should still apologize.”

Chloé thought that over. It… made sense. Even though it was a concept she was unfamiliar with. The closest thing she could think of was the apologies her dad sometimes gave when he got so caught up in working that he missed something they had planned. Or something her mother said.

But even then, usually she was expected to not be upset. After all, it wasn’t his fault that being Mayor is a complicated job, or that he had to deal with some guest. And any comments from her mother was met with a ‘you know what she’s like’.

The idea of being allowed to be upset at that. Of an apology that acknowledged her frustrations. That alone made her feel better. Validated.

“I’ll go talk to her,” Chloé decided.

“How come Plagg doesn’t give good advice?” Adrien wondered.

“Because Tikki’s the mom one,” Plagg answered. “I’m more like that drunk uncle who shows up and ruins the family reunion by calling everyone out on the shitty things they do.”

“He gives advice sometimes,” Tikki sighed.

Leaving them to their bickering, Chloé decided to try and find Mylène before she went home. She didn’t have to search far. Mylène and Ivan were sitting on one of the benches in the courtyard.

Deciding a direct conversation would be best, she approached.

“Hey, can I talk for a minute?” Chloé asked.

Instead of giving an answer, Ivan stood between them. That was sweet in theory, but as Chloé wasn’t here to be a jerk, it was annoying. Trying to keep herself from being disheartened at that, she tried again.

“Look,” Chloé said. “I know I’m not really a good person. But I’m trying to, you know, apologize. I don’t entirely understand why you got upset at me asking a question other than the assumption that I was attempting to be a jerk somehow, but I’m sorry, okay?”

“What?” Ivan asked.

“What?” Mylène repeated, poking out from behind her boyfriend.

“I said I’m sorry,” Chloé groaned. “I’m… trying to not be a total bitch. And part of that is trying to actively be nicer. And I’m not going to be perfect at it because old habits die hard and honestly I don’t have a good idea of how to be ‘nice’ like everyone else does, but I think I’ll need a lot of therapy before I’m ready to delve into that bullshit.”

Both of them kind of just raised their eyebrows at that. Unfortunate. It was a bit too emotionally open than Chloé had planned on being today.

Then Mylène sat back down on the bench, gesturing for Chloé to take the spot next to her. Hesitatingly, she took the offer. Ivan sat on the other side. While he gave her an expression that said ‘mess with Mylène and I’ll hurt you’, Chloé had a sinking feeling about which one of them was actually the dangerous one.

“You asked why I wanted to act in the film if I was so scared,” Mylène said.

“Yeah, it made no sense,” Chloé said. “You’re scared of a lot of things. And I know I’ve made fun of you for that before but, you know. Sorry. I’m working on it. But after fourteen takes of one scene, I had to wonder why.”

“I hadn’t thought it would be that bad,” she answered. “After the real danger of all the Akuma attacks, I thought that pretend monsters wouldn’t bother me. Lady Luck once said ‘we live in a world of Magic, Superheroes, and Supervillains! It’s ridiculous to let a little bit of anxiety stop you.”

Chloé tried not to react to that. That was the second time her actions as Lady Luck got thrown in her face, after Marinette gaining the determination to stand up to her. Maybe she should stop trying to give heroic advice.

“I… don’t think she meant your fear wasn’t okay,” Chloé said, trying not to reveal her identity by apologizing for that mess. “I mean, hey. She’s probably fucking terrified too.”

“I know,” Mylène smiled. “I’m probably always going to be scared. Especially of those Akumas! But I don’t want it to stop me. I want to be able to be scared, but still- still help. Whether it’s with the film, or keeping people safe.”

“I can get that,” she nodded. “I mean, I’m familiar with the idea of wanting to change for the better, you know?”

“And you’re not yet perfect at it,” she said. “Which makes others frustrated.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “Now I see where I was being a jackass.”

“I wouldn’t put it that way, exactly,” she said.

“I would,” Ivan said.

Mylène gave him a look. He shrugged, as if to say ‘you know you were just trying to be nice but I’m right’.

“What I was saying,” Mylène said, smiling and shaking her head. “Was that when everyone took a step back from their frustrations and helped me, we actually got the movie made. So I’ll try to remember that you’re on your own journey too.”

“Thanks,” Chloé said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Apologizing!!   
> One of the fun parts of writing Chloé is that since it's in-character for her to be snarky, I can get snarky at some of the writing decisions!


	14. The Mime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will admit, I completely gave up on trying to get through writing the fight and just jumped to the stuff that happens afterward. 
> 
> Also say hello to the mention of a certain OC showing up again. (She won't play a major part but she will appear once or twice to help with worldbuilding).

“Is there a reason Akumas want to remind us we’re French?” Lady Luck wondered as her Miraculous Cure fixed the damage to the city. “Seriously. How many of them attack the Eiffel Tower? And now this one was a Mime! It didn’t even follow Mime Rules!”

“How do you know about Mime Rules?” Chat snickered.

“Because,” she said. “The way you’re supposed to beat a Mime is by playing by their Rules and Miming something to fight them. And they’re not supposed to have a limit.”

“So what you’re saying is you want to do that thing from Detective Pikachu?” he asked.

“Temping,” she mused. “I was more thinking that scene in Xiaolin Showdown where they get out of the invisible box by imagining a door. But it’s the same concept.”

All he did was roll his eyes at her. Preparing to go home, Lady Luck readied her yoyo. Then a slightly disheveled and out of breath Marinette came running up to them.

“Hey, I uh,-“ Marinette began, trying to catch her breath.

“Are you okay?” Chat asked.

“Yeah, just, okay this is gonna be long,” she said. “You know that thing from this morning when you acknowledged Alya and her blog? She showed me the video but when I was holding her phone I dropped it and accidentally hit the delete button. So can you come back with me to recreate that video so that she doesn’t murder me?”

“I… don’t think she’d murder you,” Lady Luck said.

“I have a better idea,” Chat grinned. “She can’t be mad if you come back with a full interview!”

“R-really?” Marinette asked. “You’d do that?”

Well. It’s not like Lady Luck could get out of it now.

That acknowledgement this morning was supposed to be just a small step in potentially mending things with the Luckyblog. After the whole ‘Lady Wifi’ thing, Alya had seemed to be doing a little better. She wasn’t constantly searching for clues to the Heroes’ identities anymore.

It was a start. Not full forgiveness. Like what she was doing with herself. Which is why giving a full interview might be a bad idea. But she couldn’t really say no.

“Give us a minute to recharge and meet us at that theatre over there,” Lady Luck said.

* * *

Ten minutes later, the three of them were alone in a theatre.

“Okay,” Marinette nodded, starting the recording. “Alya sent a list to all of our friends with questions to ask you guys if we ever got the chance.”

“That’s… oddly efficient,” Lady Luck mused. "Like her own little team of reporters."

“Kinda cool though,” Chat said.

“A little,” Marinette said. “Onto the questions. Easiest one is how old are you two, really?”

“Sixteen,” Lady Luck shrugged.

“Same,” Chat said.

“Next one’s a little more difficult,” Marinette admitted. “How did you two get your powers? Is it innate Magic, something bestowed upon you by ancient gods, or something else?”

Lady Luck debated about how to answer that. Tikki had warned her not to say too much in the interview. Both about anything that could potentially reveal her identity, but also about the Miraculous themselves. Not only because Civilians knowing that could be dangerous, but because Hawkmoth might check the Luckyblog too.

“Most people already know the idea of the Miraculous,” Lady Luck said. “Magical jewelry. I found it in my room after Stoneheart started his rampage.”

“I feel redundant saying ‘same’, but same,” Chat shrugged.

“Did you have any hesitations being a Hero?” Marinette read off.

“Not really,” Chat said. “I mean, a little bit into the first fight I realized it was a bit more, you know, real and dangerous than it is in the shows I watch. But other than that I was ready for it. Even had the whole ‘Magical Girl Transformation Pose’ thing planned!”

“Of course you did, you nerd,” Lady Luck sighed. “I have – had some issues. But none I wish to discuss here.”

There was a pause, and she noticed how both were staring at her. Chat definitely knew her issues, and she’d talked about it a little with Marinette. But now really was not the time.

She waved her hand, indicating that they should continue. Marinette looked back at her list and made a different kind of expression.

“Are you two-“ Marinette sighed. “Are you two romantically involved?”

“Of course not,” Chat laughed. “Is that really a question?”

“You have no idea,” she said. “Alya keeps telling me about the ‘LuckyChat’ ship. Just the other night she had an online comment debate over the ship because a small handful of people think you two might be siblings because you’re both blonde and know each other really well.”

“There is so much to unpack in that,” Lady Luck groaned, rubbing at her face. “No, we’re not a couple. And we’re not siblings. We’ve just known each other a really long time.”

“Good to know,” Marinette said, using the excuse of reading the next question to not smile like an idiot at that news. “Uh, the next note is ‘if they say they aren’t together, ask if they’re gay’, but that seems too invasive even for her list so you don’t have to answer that one.”

“It’s okay,” Chat said. “I’m actually Bisexual.”

“We could tell by your outfit,” Lady Luck said. “As for me, labels are for peasants.”

That was strange to actually admit, knowing the information would soon be blasted across Paris. It wasn't something 'Chloé' was usually able to admit, but 'Lady Luck' was safer to do so. She found it stranger still that Marinette snorted with laughter at it.

“Next one’s just for Chat,” Marinette said. “Why did your costume change after your first few fights?”

“I wanted something cooler,” Chat admitted. “My first costume was pretty rushed and basic. Once I had some time to think of a few ideas, I decided to make something better.”

“Unlike some people,” Lady Luck scoffed. “I decided to look fashionable in the first place instead of running around in a leather catsuit. I still have no idea how you of all people could be so lacking in fashion!”

“I think it just tells me what your priorities were in the first fight,” he teased back. “Especially considering your outfit’s inspiration…”

“You’re seeing things,” she glared. “You just see a blonde in a red jacket and you completely black out, don’t you?”

“What are you talking about?” Marinette asked.

“Just look up Fullmetal Alchemist and you’ll get it,” Chat winked at the camera.

“Ugh, you’re ridicu-“ Lady Luck stopped, the familiar phrase catching in her throat. “Being an idiot.”

Thankfully, while Chat caught that near-slip, Marinette didn’t seem to notice.

“This question’s more of my own curiosity than Alya’s,” Marinette admitted. “But what material are your costumes made of? Even up close I can’t tell, and I’m a designer!”

“Boyfriend material!” Chat answered, making the girl blush.

“Ugh,” Lady Luck groaned. “Really? In front of my interview? But you’re right about being unable to tell what material it is, because I have no idea either. Best explanation I can give is that it’s Magic solidified into something that mimics fabric and metal and such.”

“That’s interesting but frustrating,” Marinette said. “There goes my plans to make a completely accurate replica costume.”

“I’m sure they’ll look amazing anyway,” Chat assured her.

“Any other questions?” Lady Luck wondered.

“Most of the others I think were answered before,” Marinette mused. “The only one I don’t think has been addressed is ‘What information do you have on Hawkmoth, and how can Civilians help?’.”

“We don’t have much more than everyone else,” Chat admitted.

“We know he also has a Miraculous,” Lady Luck said. “His is the Butterfly. The only hints to his identity so far is that he seems to be an adult male, given the voice. But we don’t truly know what he even looks like yet. I’ve also speculated that whatever his dayjob is gives him enough privacy to be a supervillain, since Akuma Attacks happen at all hours even during typical class and work times.”

“If anyone does have information,” he said, “try to catch us when you see us out and about. We’ll see if we can set up a tipline of sorts.”

“I think that’s enough of an interview for now,” she said. “Lady Luck, signing off!”

“This Cat is Me-out!” he grinned.

Laughing, Marinette turned off the recording. She messed with the phone a little, probably sending a copy somewhere to make sure she doesn’t accidentally delete this one.

“Thanks,” Marinette sighed. “Seriously, thank you so much! You two really didn’t have to do all that.”

“We wanted to,” Chat said, taking her hand.

“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Lady Luck said. “Don’t want to see you two be all sappy. And try not to let anyone else see you two leaving, okay?”

“Right,” Marinette nodded. “Oh! Before I forget, there was a woman who asked me to give you something.”

As she began to dig through her purse, Lady Luck gave a confused glance to Chat. Maybe it was just a fan letter? But something felt strange.

Perhaps it was the fact that the item Marinette was handing her was a letter on high-quality pink parchment with a golden wax seal. Taking the letter, she inspected the seal closer. The symbol impressed in it was an image of a sun.

“Who gave this to you?” Lady Luck wondered.

“I don’t know her name?” Marinette said. “She was a tall redhead. I think she comes into the bakery sometimes. She saw me talking to you two outside and asked me to deliver it.”

“I’ll read it when I’m home,” she said. “You two should go too. I think you both have things to do.”

It took a good twenty minutes for her to get back to the hotel. Now sitting on her bed, she turned the letter over and over in her hands. Tikki seemed curious, but also seemed unworried by it.

Popping open the seal, she found surprisingly messy penmanship. Not complete chickenscratch, but she’d expected something more elegant given the whole ‘parchment and wax seal’ thing. But apparently someone just liked the aesthetics. She read the letter.

* * *

_Dear Lady Luck and Chat Noir,_

_Congratulations on your introduction to the World of Magic. You may already be aware, but Magic exists in more than just the Miraculous._

_There is an active Magic community here in Paris. We are easy to find, if you know where to look. Usually I would come to you in person, but both of your fathers would recognize me, and we can’t have them asking why I wish to talk to you two. So I hope a letter will suffice._

_If you wish to find me, I run a shop called L'Enchantement Royale. The shop will be open when you get there, no matter the time._

_Sincerely, Ariel Rinn, The Dragon Witch of Paris_

* * *

“What… does this mean?” Chloé asked. “She mentioned my dad. Does she know…?”

“She’s a friend,” Tikki explained. “And she’s underselling her importance. She’s the most powerful thing in Paris.”

“More powerful than the Miraculous?” she wondered.

“Debatable,” she admitted. “We’re naturally incredibly powerful, but we can only utilize as much as out Chosen can wield. But other than the Miraculous, yes. And due to that, she’s basically the Magic Community’s equivalent of your dad.”

“That’s… a lot to take in,” she mused. “Why is she contacting us?”

“Other than welcoming you into Magic,” she said, “She could be helpful. I don’t think we’ll need her directly, but she might help if you want to learn more about other Magic. Though remember not to burn yourself out.”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” she said. “Will anything bad happen if I don’t show up?”

“Unlikely,” she shrugged. “You have to do something really bad to piss her off to the point that something bad would happen.”

Good. Chloé’s self confidence nowadays felt like an out of control metronome. Wildly swinging from overconfident to unsure of herself. This was something that made her a little intimidated, even though she wouldn’t admit it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all thought anyone was straight here! Well, Mylene and Ivan might be the 'token straight friends', but everyone else is somewhere in the gay.
> 
> Also, much like Chat, I see a blonde in a red jacket and I also immediately black out.


	15. The Gamer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chloé's a nerd, two old OCs make another appearance, and we get a scene from a pov of someone other than Chloé!

Ultimate Mecha Strike was not Chloé’s ‘favorite’ game. Personally, if she were to play a multiplayer, she liked the Mario Party series. But if you tried to have a tournament over that, you would soon learn that the handle on the GameCube is there so you can use it as a weapon against the jackass who stole your star.

Still, Adrien loved Ultimate Mecha Strike. So she didn’t complain when Adrien dragged her into the library to watch tryouts for a tournament.

Right now, Adrien was playing against Max. Kim was cheering while Alya recorded. As she watched, Marinette wandered into the library, lured in by all the noise they were making, and began talking to them.

Chloé brought her attention back to the screen, seeing that Adrien had won. She had to laugh a little at how shocked and disappointed both Max and Kim looked.

“Unless someone else wants to enter,” Principal Damocles said, “I believe we have our champions lined up for the Paris tournament!”

“Hey, Chloé!” Adrien called up to her. “You have a turn yet?”

The entire group looked between him and Chloé with a ‘what in the world are you smoking???’ expression. Even Miss Bustier and Principal Damocles, though they tried to hide it better. Chloé’s hand gripped the railing a bit too tightly.

Years of disapproval replayed in her mind. Her mother telling her that gaming was a waste of time, little boys telling a just-as-little Chloé that games were for boys and she should just go play with dolls and makeup. Those looks now saying ‘why would she ever like something like this’?

Then Sabrina nudged her. Sabrina knew of Chloé’s more… nerdy side. Slip ups, especially when Adrien got her talking. The one time Sabrina had come over early and found her passed out on the couch with a game over screen on the tv. Though Sabrina didn’t care for most games like Chloé and Adrien did, she was able to get a few. Usually calmer things like Animal Crossing or Pokemon.

Realizing that she hadn’t given an answer yet, Chloé regretted asking Adrien and Sabrina to help her with healthy socialization.

“Might as well,” Chloé groaned, making her way down. “But only if I’m fighting Adrien.”

“The rules are elementary,” Max explained, still giving her a look as he handed her the controller. “You battle each other’s robots with your own and…”

Chloé stopped listening, looking through the character selection. Adrien had already chosen the cat robot, ‘NAD03’. Which seemed a little on the nose now that she noticed a ladybug-themed robot. She chose that one, just because she found it funny. Adrien gave her a look like ‘what about secret identities?!’, but he didn’t have the high ground after his choice.

Besides. It’s not like anyone would suspect her anyway.

The round began fairly calmly. Blows exchanged back and forth. Nothing crazy, despite the wild combo moves that could easily be preformed. Honestly, Chloé didn’t care about playing to her best ability, just doing it to do it. She wasn’t planning on bothering with winning.

Then, she felt Adrien elbow her. Chloé gave a quick glare, not wanting to remove her eyes from the screen for too long. Just as she went back to the fight, he elbowed her again. And just like that, she felt a fire of determination and spite light in her, and she elbowed back.

Though the adults tried to stop them, the pair were intent on messing with each other as they battled it out on screen. Chloé shoved Adrien back, and he responded by leaning over on her. His weight made it hard for her to move her hands, so she got up and let him fall.

That didn’t stop him. When his player character had a few invincibility frames to spare, he hooked his arm around Chloé’s and dragged her back down, jolting her button press in the process and screwing up her combo move.

Now thoroughly annoyed, Chloé used her foot to push him away. Usually that tactic worked, but their height difference had grown the past year or so, which meant he could still reach over. Good thing she could lean away further, though by the time the match was over, she was practically upside down on the chair.

“Beat that, Agreste!” Chloé exclaimed, watching her player profile go to the #1 spot on the board. “That’s what happens when you challenge the Queen!”

“That was… quite a display,” Principal Damocles coughed awkwardly. “I assume you won’t act like that in the tournament?”

Chloé felt her face burn with embarrassment, remembering that she was in the school library surrounded by classmates. While Adrien assured Principal Damocles that they were perfectly able to behave when necessary, Chloé tried to sneak glances at everyone.

Most of them looked completely dumbfounded, though Alix’s shock was at least mixed with a bit of respect. Mylene had a bit of support, giving a small smile at her. Then there was Sabrina, her grin wide and excited.

“Can I try out too?” Marinette asked.

“I see where you’re going with this, little lady!” Alya said in a not-so-hushed whisper. “Don’t. This is a serious tournament, and you don’t want to stoop to her tactics!”

“Huh?” she wondered. “I’m not going to get into a fistfight to win, Alya. I just like the game and want to compete!”

Despite Alya trying to pull her back, Marinette wriggled out of her grip and walked over. Chloé was about to hand over her own controller when Adrien beat her to it, ever the gentleman for his crush. Seems like she was facing Marinette instead.

This round wasn’t nearly as… intense as the last round. Chloé behaved, not shoving or interfering at all. Still despite the fact that she wasn’t invested in the tournament, some small part of her refused to let Marinette win that easily. Maybe it was just leftover determination from when Adrien had challenged her.

In the end, it didn’t matter. As her name went up to the #1 spot, Marinette did her own little victory dance.

“The Queen’s been knocked from her throne!” Adrien teased.

“Yeah yeah,” Chloé rolled her eyes. “You know, I’m not all that invested in the tournament. So I quit. As third place, looks like you get to play. Better start practicing!”

“You can come over to the bakery,” Marinette offered. “Oh, I bet my dad can help us get ready for the tournament! If he’s not too busy that is. While he loves Mecha Strike, he’s not as much of a challenge anymore, but he can at least help us practice our reflexes!”

Adrien blushed red at how adorably excited Marinette was getting. Chloé knew that she’d catch hell for that later, but she was trying to help him with his crush.

A small commotion burst out behind her. Seemed like Kim was trying to comfort Max. A glance back at the screen reminded her of exactly why.

Max had been unbeatable until Adrien challenged him. And then both Chloé and Marinette had come out of nowhere and wiped the floor with him and his score. Max’s name was now down at the #4 spot.

“It’s okay,” Max assured them, looking anything but ‘okay’. “I’m fine, I lost fair and square. But if you don’t mind, I’d like a little solitude.”

Chloé did refrain from making the comment on the tip of her tongue. That despite being ‘fine’, he seemed to be moping an awful lot. While she understood that he would be upset, she didn’t get why he was this upset. Part of her wanted to ask, but she also knew that it would probably be more fuel on the ‘Chloé’s just an insensitive jerk’ fire unless she asked in just the right way.

Well. While Adrien was having ‘game time’ with Marinette, Chloé did actually have something to do.”

* * *

L'Enchantment Royale was pretty unassuming. It was small, and looked like any of those new age witch shops full of crystals and incense. If Chloé hadn't been looking for this place specifically, she probably would've passed it by.

Frowning at the entrance, she decided to try something. That Aura Vision thing. Chloé had been trying more often to get a handle on it, but that was tricky to do. If she focused on it while alone, all she could sense was Tikki, her Miraculous, and that bracelet. Trying in a crowd wasn't much better, giving her a few pinpoints of varying strength, but nothing quite so usable.

The one time she tried while bored in class had been a headache. Literally. All of her classmates gave off bright points of energy. Tikki reminded her that Magic is attracted to Magic, which meant that those with compatible Magic tended to be subconsciously drawn to one another, sometimes creating groups like theirs.

Trying now, she got at least some of a reading. There was one very bright point surrounded by smaller points of Magic. From what she had learned, the bright point was a person, while the others were objects.

Well. She was probably in the right place.

Walking in, something seemed off. It wasn't the items on the shelves. Those were pretty standard, really. The classic crystals and incense she expected, along with items for growing your own herb gardens. Tools for various things, including some she would only describe as "potion making" sets. Books that looked fairly mysterious, though she was currently too far away to read titles. And many jars and bottles of things that looked a little too glow-y to be normal.

After a moment of staring at the shop, she realized what the problem was. It was too big.

It was subtle. It's not like the small shop had led to a grand Library. The room looked to be the right size for the building it was in. However, that was only if there weren't any storage rooms or offices, or even a staircase leading to the second floor. No. Those couldn't fit in the building if the room was this big.

There was one woman at the shop counter. Very tall with wild red hair. Chloé was surprised to find her familiar. Not overly so, but she was memorable. Chloé had seen her in City Hall a few times, when her dad had taken her to work with him.

"Hello," the woman smiled at her.

"Hi," Chloé replied, on edge already. "You're the one who sent me the letter?"

"Call me Ariel," she said. "And you can relax, kid. We're not at one of your dad's political functions. No need to be worried about what you say."

"I never worry about what I say," she said. "So, what's up with the whole... Magic thing?"

Ariel laughed. It wasn't quite condescending, but it did seem like she found that question funny.

"Magic exists everywhere," Ariel explained. "The Miraculous are ancient and powerful, but there are other branches of Magic out there. Magic creatures too. This shop is open to you as both a place for information, and a place for items that might help you.”

“What kind of items?” Chloé asked.

“The Magical kind,” she said. “The Miraculous Cure might heal battle damage, but I do have things for injuries if that doesn’t happen. If you wanted to learn some other spells, you could. Perhaps a different kind of Glamour? And of course, if you want an alternate way of dealing with Akumas…”

At that, Tikki appeared from Chloé’s purse, floating in front of Ariel with a disapproving frown. Well, Chloé had planned to avoid bringing up Lady Luck, but now she kind of had to.

“Don’t give me that look, Tikki,” Ariel sighed. “I’m not saying ‘kill the Akuma’, though that would technically work with your Cure bringing them back. I’m just saying that maybe she could use some tricks like a paralysis spell or zapping people with lightning since you’re not using the other Miraculous.”

“Other Miraculous?” Chloé asked.

“I shouldn’t have said that,” she sighed, getting another disapproving look from Tikki. “Yes, there are more Miraculous, and yes, there’s one with a paralysis power and one that can zap people. But I’m not going to tell you more than that because Tikki can be scary when she’s angry.”

“I wouldn’t do anything,” Tikki said.

“Right,” she gave her a look. “I know your curses and loopholes as well as my own. You give curses disguised as gifts.”

Despite insisting that she had no idea what Ariel was talking about, Tikki did have a hint of mischief to her. Chloé made a mental note to never piss off the tiny god.

“So,” Chloé said. “How did you know… about Lady Luck.”

“There are two things protecting your identity,” Ariel said. “The mask, which does barely anything, and a Glamour. Do you know what a Glamour is?”

“I think I have a basic idea,” she said. “Magic that changes your appearance, right? But Lady Luck doesn’t do that.”

“Because you know you’re Lady Luck,” she said. “The kind of Glamour in place for you is the kind that obscures your features. Others might remember you’re blonde, but the exact shade is hard to pin down. Same with your eye color, and the features of your true face, and even your height. Even when looking at you or a picture, they can’t see it.”

“Wouldn’t people notice that?’ She wondered.

“Humans can be rather oblivious,” she chuckled. “It takes a while to learn how to notice and break Glamours. The only other way to break a Glamour is to find more proof. Say you transform in front of someone, or you share an inside joke that only one ‘side’ of you would know.”

Nodding along, Chloé noticed how Ariel said ‘Humans’. As if she weren’t one. Given the idea of Glamours, she had to wonder whether ‘Dragon’ was just a title or literal. However, she had to wonder something else.

“So if you saw Hawkmoth in person,” Chloé began. “You would be able to tell who he was, right?”

Suddenly, Ariel seemed very interested in rearranging the shelves. As it went on, Tikki and Chloé shared a look. Tikki’s expression then turned somewhat annoyed, but resigned. Meanwhile, Chloé was just annoyed.

“You already know who he is,” Chloé said.

“I can’t tell you who he is,” Ariel said, turning back to her. “Rules of Magic. I can’t really interact.”

“Why not?” she wondered.

“Imagine a scenario,” she said. “Two rich families are fighting over real estate to build a new shop. They ask your dad to decide, as he is mayor of the city.”

“That’s… not part of his job,” she said. “If he tried to pick, there would be so many issues around him interfering with their business, favor from the public, possibly loosing campaign funding, probably a bunch of other things I haven’t thought of.”

“Exactly,” she nodded. “All Magic users in Paris are under my protection. Which includes Hawkmoth, even though I don’t personally agree with what he is doing. That said, there are limits. Should he go too far, even for the world of Magic, then I will be allowed to step in.”

“This is ridiculous,” she groaned. “Utterly ridiculous. Especially that it makes sense. This is why I like loopholes! Ugh. Whatever. That just puts me back at where I was in my search. So now, my only concern is that you knowing everyone’s identity could be a liability.”

“Trust me,” she said. “If something comes along that can get me to give up that information, you have bigger problems on your hands.”

Chloé was distracted from that terrifying thought by the sound of the door opening. While Tikki hid in her purse again, Chloé looked to see who it was. Another woman had entered, this one with short brown hair and a black jacket. The other things she took note of were the woman’s sturdy boots, and a detective badge clipped to her belt that caught the light when her jacket moved.

The woman paused, looking at her. Now that Chloé was looking closer, she also looked familiar. Not as familiar as Ariel, though Ariel was more memorable in the first place.

“What are you doing here?” the woman asked.

“Ignore her,” Ariel said, rolling her eyes. “Wolfie gets grumpy when she gets off shift.”

“Sorry,” the woman sighed. “I just didn’t expect this to be the kind of place that the Mayor’s daughter shows up.”

“Wait,” Chloé frowned, finally seeming to recognize the woman. “Didn’t you chase and tackle a guy in the hotel lobby last week?”

The woman sighed again, massaging an oncoming headache. Meanwhile, Ariel just laughed.

“He was a suspect in a case,” the woman said. “Fight or flight response kicked in, and I couldn’t let him get away. My name’s Stella Wolfe, by the way.”

“You already seem to know who I am,” Chloé said, offering a handshake.

“You’ve been on tv with your dad a few times,” Wolfe said, shaking the girl’s hand. “So, what brings you here?”

“She was just asking a few innocent questions about Magic,” Ariel said.

Not a lie, but not the truth either. An easy message. Don’t say anything about the Miraculous. Trying to think of something else, Chloé remembered that she had another question about something that, hopefully, wasn’t related to the Miraculous.

From her purse, she pulled out a bracelet. The enchanted bracelet her dad had gotten her. She set it gently on the counter, still worried that ‘Magic Fire doesn’t burn unless you want it to’ is just a lie to make her feel better.

“I was hoping you could tell me something about this,” Chloé said.

“Ah, I was wondering if you got it!” Ariel said. “I figured it would make a good gift!”

“Gift?” she repeated.

“Sure,” she said. “I had to talk to your dad about certain Magical things going on in the city. Bad news is usually accompanied by a gift as an apology. I didn’t have anything he would like, but I knew this bracelet was perfect for you!”

“Ariel,” Wolfe warned. “What have we said about gifting kids dangerous Magical Artifacts?”

“It’s not dangerous,” she defended.

“It shoots fire!” Chloé exclaimed.

“Ariel!” Wolfe snapped.

“Magic fire!” Ariel clarified. “It only burns what she wants it to! Perfectly safe as long as she doesn’t decide to set a fire! And I think if she really wanted to do that, she could get her hands on a box of matches just as easily!”

Wolfe sputtered indignantly at that, trying to come up with an actual argument. Even Chloé was at a loss for words. It seemed like these two had this argument a lot, as eventually Wolfe just gave such a tired and exasperated expression.

“At least I’m better than the guy in the massage parlor,” Ariel muttered.

“Anyway,” Chloé said, unwilling to unpack all that. “You said the bracelet was ‘perfect for me’. What can you tell me about it?”

“Might as well give her some instruction so she doesn’t actually burn anything,” Wolfe said.

“Of course,” Ariel said, picking up the bracelet. “This is known as the ‘Phoenix Bracelet’. It was originally made by a Unicorn Mage several years ago.”

“Is a ‘Unicorn Mage’ anything like a ‘Dragon Witch’?” Chloé asked.

“Mages are basically Magic Scientists,” she said. “And you can guess on Dragons and Unicorns.”

“Right,” she nodded. “So why’d the Mage make the bracelet?”

“To help others,” she said. “The Mage had an ability called Phoenix Soul, something that she earned because, like the Phoenix, she rose from her ashes. She spent years trying to do anything to get what she wanted, the love of one person, nearly tearing apart the world itself. Then, she found a new way, new friends and a family, who helped her become the kind of person who saves the world instead. The bracelet was something she made as a gift, a good luck charm of sorts, for those beginning their own Rise from the Ashes.”

Well then. That…. Hit far too close to home. Taking the bracelet back, she felt the warmth from its fire. Not burning, but warm. Like a fireplace.

Before she could ask more questions, her phone went off with a familiar alert. Double checking, she groaned seeing her phone screen.

“I have to go,” Chloé said, shoving the bracelet back into her bag. “Thanks for the help.”

“Come back anytime,” Ariel said.

With that, Chloé was out the door and looking for a place to transform.

* * *

Meeting Marinette’s parents had gone well. Of course, Adrien had been perfectly respectful. Though while he’d heard the old trope of ‘overprotective dads’ and Tom was quite a big man, he had a feeling he should be more scared of Sabine.

Adrien might not have been at the top of his game while playing though. How could he? Marinette was very close. And they were in her room!! Much like Marinette, it was very pink and full of love. Photos of her friends, both newer selfies and old pictures of her with Nino and Kim, covered the one wall. There were a few half-finished projects lying around too, but she quickly hid a few of those, claiming they were future gifts.

“You two have been playing for a while,” Sabine said, popping her head up through the hatch in Marinette’s room.

“Not that long,” Marinette said. “Just- oh. Wow. It has been an hour now, hasn’t it?”

“Time flies when I’m with you,” Adrien said. “But, uh, maybe we should take a break?”

“And eat something,” she added. “Maman, didn’t you say something about a salmon and spinach pie earlier?”

“Just came out of the oven,” Sabine confirmed. “Unfortunately, the bakery’s getting a little busy, so snack time will be you two on your own.”

“I have an idea!” Adrien said. “How about we make a picnic out of it? Get up and stretch in the park before a few more rounds?”

Sabine gave him a smile, the look in her eye making him almost sure that she knew what he was doing. His face flushed with embarrassment at that, but was glad that she seemed to approve of him. Or at least she didn’t disapprove.

A few minutes later, Adrien and Marinette were across the street in the park. Those salmon and spinach pies had cooled down enough to eat.

Adrien had to refrain from shoving the entire thing in his mouth. He’d had food from the Dupain-Cheng bakery before, but that was usually sweet things. Cookies and cakes and other such pastries. It was good to know that they were amazing at savory things too.

“Slow down, Sunshine,” Marinette laughed. “You’ll make yourself sick like that.”

“Sorry,” Adrien said, barely remembering to swallow before he talked. “It’s just really good.”

“Thanks,” she laughed. “You know, I think that hastiness is why you keep losing in our practices. You keep trying to rush in and hit the opponent.”

“What do you mean?” he asked. “If I don’t hit them, then they’ll hit me and I’ll lose.”

“I don’t mean don’t hit them,” she said. “But sometimes you have to wait for the right moment. Pull back and go on the defensive, then strike. That’s your problem too, I think. You’re kind of an all or nothing kind of person. Your options were either fight to win, or lose. Not to sit back and wait. The closest you get to doing that is being a distraction, but you can't do that in a competition.”

“Huh,” he mused. “You’re really good at this. A lot better than I am.”

“Well, I have a lot of practice,” she said. “My dad plays Mecha Strike with me a lot. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re as good as you are. I know you mentioned you didn’t really have many friends growing up.”

“You do remember watching Chloé kick my ass, right?” he asked.

Marinette blinked at him for a moment. Then she got quiet. And contemplative. Not exactly sad, but definitely confused.

“I didn’t expect her to be able to do that,” Marinette said. “She never seemed interested in video games.”

“Well she’s as much of a nerd as I am,” Adrien said. “She’ll probably kill me for telling you that though.”

“It’s… weird,” she said. “Whenever you talk about her, it’s hard to imagine you’re talking about the same Chloé.”

“I get it,” he said. “That’s how I feel hearing you guys talk about her sometimes. I’m not saying I don’t believe you, I’m just saying that there are other sides to her. There are just… reasons she is the way she is, that I can’t explain because it’s not my place to do so. I know it might explain it, but it doesn’t excuse it. So I won’t force you into talking to her. But I think it might help if you do.”

“I’ll… think about it,” she agreed.

“Good,” he smiled, standing up and stretching. “Then let’s get back to you kicking my ass at Mecha Strike! Maybe by the tournament I’ll actually win a round!”

“Maybe,” she said. “Actually, I have an idea!”

Instead of elaborating, she began searching through her pockets. Finding what she needed in her back pocket, she held out a bracelet to him. It was made of several colored beads on a red string.

“Try a round with this,” Marinette said. “This is why I win. It’s my own little ‘lucky charm’.”

“Usually I’d doubt the power of Lucky Charms,” Adrien said, already wrapping the bracelet around his wrist. “But I’ve seen Luck magic in action!"

“While I have no connections to Lady Luck,” she said. “I can promise it’s lucky all on it’s own.”

“It’s lucky because it’s yours,” he said.

Okay. That was maybe a little too cheesy. He could practically hear Plagg laughing at him.

Then he heard something else. Screams and the footsteps of something big and heavy. Looking toward it, they saw a giant robot straight out of Mecha Strike.

“Please let this be a publicity stunt for the Tournament,” Marinette groaned.

“Doesn’t look like it,” Adrien answered.

As the robot began to charge up its laser, Adrien grabbed her hand and ran off. Then kept running, barely keeping ahead of the blasts.

One blast hit between them, knocking them apart. Adrien slammed into a tree, stunned but otherwise fine. Marinette looked back for a moment, but as the robot charged up again, she began running out of the park.

But despite being stunned and an easy target, the robot didn’t pay attention to Adrien at all. Instead, it continued to chase after Marinette. Odd. Had the tree hidden Adrien? Or was the Akuma after her specifically?

Either way, it was time to transform.

* * *

Lady Luck arrived just in time to see a giant Mecha Strike robot aiming its laser at Marinette. God why are these Akumas so strange?

“Game over, Marinette!” the Akuma announced.

Odd that it knew her name. Not bothering to wait and ponder that, Lady Luck threw her yoyo at the robot, knocking it off course, while Chat appeared and grabbed Marinette.

As the robot glitched out, the Heroes ran, getting quite a few rooftops away before meeting and dropping Marinette off.

“Are you two okay?” Lady Luck asked.

“Yeah,” Marinette nodded. “But my friend! Adrien! We got separated in the park! I wanted to go back for him but Max’s robot kept-“

“Wait, that was Max?” Chat asked. “Huh. Now that I think about it, that makes sense.”

“How do you…” she began to ask.

“Local gossip about the gaming tournament,” Lady Luck said. “Heard you and Adrien were competing. Speaking of, he’s fine. Saw him ducking for cover on the way over.”

“That’s good but…,” she sighed, thankfully buying that excuse. “Kim said Max was looking forward to competing, but then Adrien and I showed up and kinda beat him out of the spot. Chloé did too, technically, but she resigned not caring about the competition. I knew he was upset but…”

“We’ll take care of it,” Chat said. “Just stay here and you’ll be safe. Don’t worry. Now, I should leap and do a barrel roll!”

“Come on!” Lady Luck shouted after him as he did, in fact, leap off the building. “If we’re doing old game references, I think a ‘Leroy Jenkins’ would be appropriate for your tactics!”

Still, she followed. As they ran back towards the fight, they tried to redirect the civilians out of the way. Though there wasn’t much to say other than ‘run away from the giant robot with lasers’.

“Hey, tin can!” Chat shouted, drawing the fire.

While Max, or ‘Gamer’ as he was now calling himself, steered his robot toward Chat, Lady Luck went for a classic tripwire. It was all too easy to wrap her yoyo’s cord around the robot’s legs and a few lamp posts.

“My calculations indicate that your system’s about to crash!” Gamer shouted.

“You’re the one crashing, jackass!” Lady Luck replied.

A single tug was all it took for the robot’s legs to give and topple over completely. A thundering crash later, and it was glitching out on the cracked concrete.

“This is pretty cool though,” Chat said, inspecting the robot closer. “A life-size Mecha Strike robot!”

“Be glad its Mecha Strike and not Zelda,” Lady Luck said. “I don’t even want to imagine the destruction a Divine Beast could do. Though this thing’s getting pretty close. It’s nearly level three.”

“And level four is-“

His comment was cut off as the robot shot off another laser beam, hitting a nearby bus. Both Heroes let out a string of swears as the robot evolved into its level three form, gaining sturdier legs and a pair of arms.

Without another thought, both Heroes had run, dodging the arms and the lasers as they sprinted across rooftops.

“What’s with Akumas and being so unfair?” Lady Luck groaned.

“We should get him somewhere else before he destroys the city,” Chat said.

“That’s a convenient idea,” she said, pointing to a billboard they happened to be passing.

“A stadium for our showdown,” he grinned. “Brilliant!

They made sure to be quick but cautious, leading Gamer toward the stadium. There wasn’t much they could do to keep him from blasting people for ‘EXP’ along the way. Hopefully it wouldn’t be enough to level him up again.

They jumped to the middle of the field, Gamer not far behind them. Lady Luck threw her yoyo at the robot’s head, only for it to harmlessly bounce off.

“You’re right, this isn’t fair,” Chat said.

“Maybe it’s time for a Cataclysm?” Lady Luck said, dodging a laser blast. “Just try and hit his main body so you destroy the whole thing, not just a limb!”

“Cataclysm!”

He turned, continuing to dodge the lasers as he launched himself at the robot. As soon as his hand hit, the metal began to turn black and become dust. It quickly dissolved, dropping a ridiculously-dressed Gamer onto the field.

“You’re the Superstar, Chat,” Lady Luck said, high fiving her partner.

“Chat Noir Style!” Chat shouted, striking a pose. “Booyah!”

Before she could ask where that came from, the world around them began to glow. Particles of light condensed into a red sphere. Not unlike the ones in Mecha Strike.

“Let’s check out the loot,” Chat said.

“Interesting,” Lady Luck mused. “Gamer’s abilities don’t seem limited to him. I wonder if we could access other game mechanics.”

“You’ve forgotten the rules!” Gamer cackled. “I saved my last level! Respawn!”

With a touch to his glasses, the robot reappeared. Though now in it’s final form. Damn it. Lady Luck had no one to blame but herself. Too intrigued by the possibility of game mechanics to even thinking about breaking the Akumatized item.

Which was probably his glasses, now that she thought about it. His costume didn’t really have that much else to it.

“Not the old spawn point glitch again,” Chat groaned. “I thought they banned that!”

“Well then,” Lady Luck said. “Good thing we can play the same game.”

She touched her hand to the sphere, and it began to glow again. A robot of their own, some sort of ladybug/cat hybrid, appeared. After hearing Chat’s ring beep, bot Heroes clambered up into it.

“I’ll man it, you shoot!” Chat said, taking the controls.

“Why do you get to-“ Lady Luck paused, looking at a button. “What? ‘Battle Music’?”

She pressed it on reflex, immediately hearing a [certain song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wDgQdr8ZkTw) blared out of speakers. Chat began to cackle, and even Lady Luck couldn’t help but laugh.

“Seems like someone’s gonna have a bad time!” Lady Luck shouted over the music.

“Good thing we’re filled with Determination!” Chat replied.

Their own Catbugbot walked forward, and threw a punch. Lady Luck hit a button, activating a booster that sent Gamerbot reeling back.

“Gamer Missiles!” Gamer shouted, missiles shooting out from the shoulders.

“Lucky!” Chat shouted. “Forcefield!”

“Up and running!” Lady Luck replied, hitting another button.

A shield appeared on Catbugbot’s right arm. As the missiles hit, its left hand reached back to detach its tail and turn it into a sword.

“Gamer Drill!” Gamer shouted.

This time, his own robot’s arm turned into a drill, charging on their robot It crashed against the shield before shattering it.

“Damn it!” Chat shouted. “He took out the forcefield! How’s that even possible?!”

“We’re going to have to manage without!” Lady Luck said. “Lucky Bombs!”

The robots exchanged blows back and forth. Shouts of names were exchanged too.

“Laser Wall!”

“Lucky Helix!”

“Thunder!”

“Gamer Fire!”

“Catouken!”

“Really Chat?”

“Come on, like you aren’t making references?”

“Objection!”

"Exactly my point!"

Despite being able to keep up, they were evenly matched in game skill. Neither bot was making any headway. It would come down to a lucky shot. Which would be fine, but Chat was quickly running out of time.

Maybe something other than game mechanics were needed? Or maybe something in combination with the mechanics.

“Lucky Charm!”

A crowbar dropped into her lap. Which kind of hurt, actually. Note to self: No summoning Lucky Charm in small spaces. Good thing it wasn’t a giant weight like it had been with Stormy Weather.

However, a crowbar would do her little good in here. Not unless she wanted to pry open the control panel and rewire the thing to get some more power. A good idea, but it didn’t seem quite right.

Looking out at the fight, she began to wonder if she could use the crowbar to get into the Gamerbot. But that would involve going outside of her own bot to hopefully not get hit by the arms or missiles or lasers or whatever other tricks that thing was decked out with.

If only it would stay still. But Chat had tried pinning the other bot. It just ended up in both rolling over each other, trying to pin the other until one was thrown off. There seemed to be no way to stop him.

Wait. Maybe… just maybe…

Lady Luck waited for when another blow made contact before she tried her idea.

“Game Pause!”

In an instant, everything was frozen. Mecha Strike’s pause screen hovered in front of her face, giving choises like ‘Continue’ and ‘Quit Game’, along with ‘Options’. While the music still played, it was at half-volume. Both bots had stopped moving, as had Chat and presumably Gamer.

But not Lady Luck.

“I didn’t even think that would work,” Lady Luck said. “But hey, I’m the one who paused, I’m the only one who can unpause. Good.”

With that, it was just a quick climb out of Catbugbot, and a slightly hazardous stroll along Gamerbot’s arm. On the front of it’s pyramid-shaped head, was a round glass window. Inside, she could see Gamer still frozen at the controls.

Nothing gets rid of glass like a good old-fashioned crowbar! Pushing the shards out of the way, she reached her hand in and snatched the glasses off Gamer’s face.

She debated about breaking them then and there, but decided it was better to be safe than sorry. Quickly climbing down to the ground, Lady Luck prepared to snap the glasses.

“Continue!”

Just as fast as it had frozen, the bots had begun their battle again. This round, no time was wasted in snapping the glasses and capturing its Butterfly.

“See you around, little Butterfly.”

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Both bots disappeared in a flash of pink light, thankfully dropping both Chat and Max neatly on the ground.

“When did you…” Chat asked.

“Pause screen,” Lady Luck shrugged.

“Huh,” he said. “It’s cheating, but I’ll allow it!”

“What… am I doing here?” Max asked.

“You’re smart enough to figure out why we’re here,” Lady Luck said. “Sorry, gotta go!”

* * *

Chloé had been once more dragged into an attempt at social interaction by Adrien. This time supporting him and Marinette during the actual tournament, along with Nino and Alya. Max had shown up as well, at least attempting not to be a sore loser.

Though she was very surprised when she saw Marinette hand over her controller to Max, letting him enter the competition with Adrien.

Despite getting a wary glance, Chloé slid up beside Marinette.

“Why’d you drop out?” Chloé asked.

“Because my heart wasn’t in it,” Marinette answered. “Max is the one who really wanted to be here. He’s been training so hard”

“But he got fourth place in the tryouts,” she said. “He wanted to be here and did all that training, but still lost to a bunch of casual players.”

“It’s not a competition,” she rolled her eyes.

“It literally is!” she retorted. “This is literally a tournament for the best Mecha Strike player, and he technically didn’t qualify.”

“I guess,” she shook her head. “But you dropped out too.”

“Regretting that now,” she muttered. “After what I heard from Adrien, I almost want to rejoin to prove him wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” she wondered.

“Riddle me this!” she said. “Why was Gamer so focused on ending your ‘Game’ that he would leave Adrien alone, even though you both beat him out for the competition.”

At first, the girl just stared at her with a confused expression. Slowly, realization must have struck, as her eyes became wider.

“You’re not seriously suggesting he was upset about being beaten by a girl?” Marinette asked.

“He might’ve been,” Chloé shrugged. “Adrien told me how Gamer completely ignored him, even when he was an easy target, and was only after you. Personally, if I was just mad about losing the competition, I would’ve been blasting both of you.”

“I’ll talk to him,” she mused.

“Call the fucker out,” she laughed.

“I’ll talk to him calmly,” she said, giving her a look. “Even if it is that, it’s not purposely. Max is really nice. He doesn’t deserve to be yelled at.”

“I guess,” she shrugged. “Some people probably deserve it, others don’t I guess.”

What was the difference on that? When did someone deserve to be yelled at, and when did they deserve a calm talking to? She wasn’t sure. The only people who talked to her calmly were the Agrestes and people who knew she was wrong but didn’t want to get her dad mad at her. Everyone else just yelled at her when they were mad at her.

Maybe she should ask Tikki.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise I won't have Ariel and Wolfe show up a lot. Just occasionally. I just wanted to establish them as part of the bigger universe of Magic bullshit.
> 
> Also there were three options for what song I picked as the 'Battle Music'. The other options were 'City Escape' from SA2 or 'Last Surprise' from P5. I figured the one I chose was the most 'one-hit killshot' of them though.


	16. Animan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've mentioned this episode a few times on my tumblr of just 'local man is upset that dumb teen insults animal'. 
> 
> And also that the zookeeper here is Alya's dad and I didn't realize that until, like, season 3.

“What are you doing here?” Alya asked.

“Why do you ask me that every time we’re outside of school?” Chloé wondered.

“To be fair,” Nino said. “I think she meant less’ what are you doing at the zoo?’ and more ‘why are you here hiding in the bushes with us?’.”

Okay, that one was a legitimate question. They did look pretty suspicious, and would probably get yelled at by a zookeeper if one happened to wander by. Meanwhile, Adrien and Marinette sat at a picnic table, waiting for the friends who didn’t plan on showing up.

“I’m here for the same reason you two are,” Chloé admitted. “Spying on an attempted date.”

“If you even think about sabotaging them…” Alya warned.

“Why would I do that?” she wondered.

“To have Adrien to yourself, duh?” she retorted.

At that, Chloé began to laugh. She actually had to cover her mouth, lest she draw attention of the lovebirds. The whole time, both Alya and Nino just stared at her.

“First of all,” Chloé said, still chuckling, “If I did have a crush on Adrien, I love him enough to respect who he chooses. Secondly, Adrien is practically my brother. We’re not siblings, but he’s like one. I’m not into him that way.”

“Sure,” Alya said. “That’s why you butted into that game competition!”

“You mean the one Adrien invited me into?” she asked. “The one I also dropped out of because I didn’t care about the actual tournament?”

“That whole day was out of the Twilight Zone, man,” Nino muttered.

“You only dropped out after realizing you’d get stuck with Marinette,” Alya said. “Which is probably exactly what she wanted, considering she got to spend the whole thing with Adrien.”

“Wait, is that what you meant?” Chloé said. “You told her not to ‘stoop to my level’. Did you really think that either of us were playing Mecha Strike just to impress a boy?”

“Before you two continue this,” Nino said. “Can you please hide so they don’t see us?”

Shrugging, Chloé looked around. The tree seemed to already hide her well, but if she was constantly gesturing while talking, eventually someone would see her. Though the tree was pretty sturdy-looking.

First, there was waiting for Marinette to be looking away from the hiding spot. Then, quick and agile, she grabbed a low hanging branch and pulled herself up. Looking back to the bushes, both of her unwilling companions looked so absolutely tired with her.

“What?” Chloé asked.

“You couldn’t just hide down here?” Alya asked.

“You do realize you’re kneeling in mud, right?” she wondered. “Good luck getting those stains out. But fine. You can have your little ‘stake out-make out’ down there, and I’ll be up here!”

“Stake out-make out?!” Nino shouted, nearly blowing their cover before Alya put her hand over his mouth.

The two ducked down further, while Marinette looked around confused. They couldn’t hear what they were saying, but Adrien seemed to distract her from looking for them.

“What are you talking about?” Alya demanded.

“You two doing whatever,” Chloé said. “Honestly I’m surprised you’re hiding back here. I figured you would’ve used this as a double date. At least then I could help spy in peace instead of third-wheeling.”

“We’re not dating,” Nino said, finally removing Alya’s hand from his mouth.

“Right,” she said. “The class might’ve tried to hide it from me, but I do know about the betting pool. You two getting together is right behind Adrikitty and Pigtails.”

“Bets can be wrong,” Alya said. “That’s literally the point of the bet!”

“Yeah, man,” Nino added. “You’d have to be some kind of moronosaurus to think that making a bet means it’ll happen.”

“I’m going to purposefully ignore the word ‘moronosaurus’,” Chloé said.

“So am I,” Alya said, raising an eyebrow. “What the fuck dude?”

“It’s how I keep from teaching my little brother actual swears,” Nino shrugged. “I'd rather you guys hear me say 'moronosaurus' than have him learn 'dumbass'."

Rolling her eyes, Chloé returned to spying on Adrien and Marinette. She wished she could hear them. This is why a hidden earbud was suggested, but Adrien said he didn’t want any of them distracting him while he ‘worked his magic’.

Chloé probably would’ve called him a ‘moronosaurus’ if it weren’t for the fact that Marinette had already fallen for him once. Though while she seemed comfortable and interested, it also seemed like she had a ‘different’ blonde on the mind.

Of course, right when things were going well, that was when it turned bad. Screams started up. She watched as Kim sprinted by, closely followed by a heavily panting Max. And then followed by… was that a panther? And a whole herd of various zoo animals.

“Great googly moogly, it’s all gone to shit,” Chloé muttered.

“This has to be an Akuma!” Alya shouted, already getting out her phone.

“Don’t you dare!” Nino shouted.

As Alya leaped out of the bushes, Nino chased after her, trying to grab her and pull her back. Marinette spotted them as well, and seemed to groan in exasperation before chasing after them. Well, at least Chloé didn’t have to go find a place to hide!

“Tikki, Spots On!”

By the time Lady Luck had leaped out of the tree, Adrien had transformed too. Chat met her on top of one of the cages, watching for where they were going.

“How’d the date go?” Lady Luck asked.

“I think it was going good until this,” Chat sighed.

“What I figured,” she said. “You get your girlfriend out of the way, and I’ll grab the other two.”

Thanks to rooftops and superhero speed, they quickly caught up to the three just as one of the animals turned on them. Lady Luck yanked them back by their shirts before a gorilla could jump at them. Chat picked Marinette up too, and all of them hopped up to a nearby roof and over toward the zoo’s cafeteria.

“What have I said about dangerous situations?” Lady Luck groaned.

“Something about not getting near them?” Alya said sheepishly.

“Why must you try and get yourself killed?” Nino asked.

“I think you just have a thing for adrenaline junkies,” Marinette said. “Remember Kim?”

“That was a decade ago!” he groaned.

“What do you mean ‘remember Kim’?” Alya asked. “Kim’s still around?”

“Not for long if we don’t catch up,” Chat said.

Looking around, Lady Luck decided on a perfect hiding spot. She shoved all three civilians into the cafeteria before dragging over one of the heavy potted plants decorating the walkway. And putting it in front of the door.

“Hey!” the three protested.

“To keep someone from chasing after the Akuma,” Lady Luck said, a pointed look at Alya. “I’d use one of the empty cages, but I don’t want to risk my Miraculous Cure putting the animals back in the cages without taking you guys out.”

“I’m going to push that thought from my brain,” Chat said. “Let’s go save Kim.”

Back to the rooftops it was. Damn. The animals were really, uh, going wild. It seemed like they weren’t actually causing much damage to people so much as they were just scaring them. That might mean the Akuma was controlling them, and he still had enough of a conscience to not want anyone else to be seriously harmed.

On the bright side, that meant that they could be ignored for now. Hopefully she was right about Miraculous Cure putting them back in their cages though. Because animal handling was not in her job description.

Okay it probably was. But she really didn’t want to deal with that.

Getting to higher ground outside the zoo, they looked around again. The animals seemed a bit all over the place.

“Over there!” Chat shouted, heading in one direction.

Sure enough, as Lady Luck followed, she saw the panther from earlier stalking toward Kim. For a moment, Lady Luck wondered if it even was an Akuma, or just a very determined panther. Then it started talking. Still, it might just be an Akumatized panther given the power of speech!

Either way, she didn’t give it a chance to pounce, throwing her yoyo around its hind leg. The panther slammed to the ground, just short of its target. Meanwhile, Chat hopped around to help Kim up, telling him to run.

“It really is a jungle out here, isn’t it?” Lady Luck smirked.

“I think there’s only room for one cat in this city,” Chat said.

“You’ll never get me!” The Akuma shouted.

Then, it began to glow. After dissolving into a purple-ish black-ish cloud, the panther had transformed into an eagle. Which flew away over the city.

“You’re right about the Akumas being so unfair,” Chat sighed.

“Well we know what he’s after,” Lady Luck said. “All we have to do is find Kim.”

“Already on it, Lucky,” he said, pulling out his baton. “Slipped a tracker on him after he ran.”

“You have a tracker?” she asked.

“The weapons have all sorts of surprises,” he said. “Come on!”

She followed behind, with Chat barely looking where he was going as he followed the tracker on his baton. There was a worried frown on his face.

Of course, it was easy to tell why when he landed on the roof of the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Even though Marinette was safe, her parents were now in the crossfire.

Lady Luck decided it was probably better to use the front door instead of the rooftop entrance. She dropped down, this time with Chat following her. Inside, the Dupain-Chengs were fussing over Kim.

“Hey, guys,” Lady Luck said, giving a wave.

"Oh, hello Lady Luck!” Mrs. Cheng said, excited to see a hero.

“Yes, ma’am!” she said back, a little too cheery. “Sorry about barging in, but the current Akuma is after Kim here so…”

“Let’s move this upstairs,” Mr. Dupain said.

On the way, the Dupain-Chengs quickly changed the shop’s sign to ‘closed’ and locked the door. They also grabbed a few pastries, offering them to the kids.

Upstairs was the living room. A tv was showing a news report about the animals running rampant in the streets. But neither Hero focused on that. Chat Noir decided to peruse the photos on the shelf, while Lady Luck talked to Kim.

“So what happened at the zoo?” Lady Luck asked.

“I was showing off for my, uh, friend,” Kim answered. “I think I pissed off the zookeeper. Calls himself ‘Animan’ now.”

“How’d you piss him off?” she wondered.

“I might’ve said I could outrun a panther,” he admitted.

“I think you were wrong,” Chat said.

“I’m not sure who I should be more exasperated with,” Lady Luck said. “You for trashtalking a panther, or the zookeeper for getting Akumatized over it!”

“Perhaps he had a bad day and that was the final straw,” Mrs. Cheng suggested.

“Probably,” Chat agreed. “You three stay up here, we’ll take care of the Akuma.

Walking back downstairs, the pair couldn’t help but look around a little more. It was rare for them to be in a home so… warm. And lived in. So different from their own.

Despite the instinct to stay and curl up in a warm blanket, they made their way to the front of the bakery.

“You got any ideas, Lucky?” Chat asked. “He’ll be coming this way soon, if he’s tracking by scent. Panthers can’t open doors but-“

“But he might shapeshift,” Lady Luck nodded. “I think the tricky part is keeping him trapped, and then being able to get close enough to find the Akumatized object.”

“Want to trick him into something small?” he suggested. “Easier to catch.”

“Easier unless he turns into something big,” she said. “I might be able to stuff a bird in a cakebox, but if he turns back into a panther it’d be worthless. Besides, we need to be able to trap ourselves in there too, so we can get his Akumatized Item.”

“Right,” he said. “How about that?”

The thing he was pointing to was a bus outside. Definitely big enough for them and a panther. It might be a little tricky to get him in there though.

“We need to make ourselves bait,” Lady Luck said. “Right now he’s more focused on Kim, so he’s ignoring the idea of getting our Miraculous.”

“Leave that to me,” Chat said. “And I think that’s our cue!”

Looking out the window again, Lady Luck saw the eagle circling. With yoyo in hand, she led the way outside. Chat followed, quickly placing himself beside her.

The eagle landed, turning into a panther once more. This was the first time the Heroes could get a good look at it. For the most part, it looked like a panther. Yet most panthers don’t wear bracelets.

“Give up the boy, and no one gets hurt,” Animan said.

“Except the boy,” Lady Luck said. “Are you really going to kill a teenager because he insulted an animal? Really? That’s where we’re at today?”

The Akuma at least had the decency to look ashamed. Interesting. Could they negotiate out of it? She had to wonder. If they managed to calm an Akuma’s rage, could they negate Hawkmoth’s control?

Seemed like they wouldn’t get a chance. The glowing Butterfly symbol appeared on Animan’s face, and his resolve strengthened.

“I won’t kill him,” Animan said. “I only wish to prove his statements false.”

“Sure, we totally trust that,” Chat said. “It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s long gone!”

“You lie!” he roared, quite literally. “I can still smell him in there!”

“Smell is such an unreliable sense,” Chat said. “So easy to fool.”

“Most senses are easy to fool,” Lady Luck said, catching on. “All we had to do was dump some cheap perfume on him, and suddenly you have no clue where he is.”

“But we do,” Chat said, looking at the screen of his baton. “A physical tracker is a lot easier to manage. Too bad you don’t have one of these. You might be able to catch up if you know where he went.”

With a snarl, Animan leaped at them. Both jumped out of the way. However, even as they dodged, the Akuma just righted itself and gave chase.

“Couldn’t he choose a slower-moving animal!” Chat shouted.

Now sure that it was following them and not going to the Bakery, Lady Luck hopped onto the bus. Chat was once more right behind her. And so was Animan.

As soon as they were ‘trapped’ in the back, Lady Luck and Chat Noir leaped over the seats, blocking the exit. Chat extended the baton, keeping Animan at bay while Lady Luck prepared to tie him with her yoyo.

Animan shifted from panther to bear, catching them off guard. Chat was knocked down, the baton flying out of his hands. Lady Luck chased after it, tossing it back just in time for Chat to block a swipe.

This time Lady Luck did wrap her yoyo around the bear. But he escaped by turning into a… Ladybug. That was so many levels of rude.

Then the panther was back, but his breathing was labored. It even staggered a little

“All the transformations seem to be tiring him out,” Chat said.

“That is such a lame weakness,” Lady Luck said.

“Letting him wear himself out will be easier for us!” he said. “Come on!”

Ushering her toward the front, Chat activated his Cataclysm on the bus’s control panel. The doors slammed wildly, but they managed to squeeze through. Animan wasn’t so lucky, the bus giving out completely and locking him inside.

Animan turned into a bear and roared, but seemed unable to do anything to the bus door. Huh. Who knew buses were bear-proof.

“I don’t think he can ‘bear’ it!” Chat grinned.

“Hate to be the ‘bear’-er of bad news,” Lady Luck said, managing to keep a straight face. “But we still have to get the Butterfly.”

Animan continued to try and escape. First becoming the ladybug again and trying to squeeze out the doors. Then a gorilla that beat on the doors, then giving up and pacing. He changed again into the panther, before seeming to drop, too tired to move.

Lady Luck stepped forward to re-enter the bus, just as black and purple filled the windows and the whole thing began to shake. The Heroes stepped back, watching in dawning horror as something enormous burst through the metal and glass.

“A fucking tyrannosaurus?!” Lady Luck shouted. “That is the most bullshit technicality-“

“Lucky, not the time!” Chat said. “Or else he’s not going to be the one extinct!”.

This time they were actually running, not playing bait. The only thing that saved them was that the tyrannosaurus wasn’t quite as agile as the panther. A hairpin turn sent it stumbling into a building, giving the Heroes the opportunity to duck behind a car.

As Animan continued to roar and rampage, Lady Luck caught her breath. And was reminded of Chat’s time limit by his beeping ring. She needed to end this soon.

“Lucky Charm!”

The item that dropped was a spray can of sorts. Unfortunately, it was all red with black spots. No label. So it could be hairspray, air freshener, spray-on deodorant, or even spray paint. Unsure what to do with it, she tucked the can into her belt.

“Let’s go with a classic,” Lady Luck said. “You distract the moronosaurus, I use the yoyo on his legs.”

“I see you've been talking to Nino,” Chat sighed. “Good plan though. I’ve been told I’m very distra-“

He was cut off by the sound of a tyrannosaurus crushing their hiding spot. Time to run!

Chat let himself fall behind, jumping when Animan lunged for him, and landing on it’s head. Like a bucking bronco, he held on. At least until Lady Luck’s yoyo wrapped around Animan’s legs, knocking the beast over.

As Chat approached to get the bracelet, Lady Luck felt wary. Animan didn’t seem capable of changing forms again, but her Lucky Charm hadn’t been used. That was another question. Was Lucky Charm always necessary for the fight, or just to reverse damage?

She jumped as Animan snapped at Chat, barely missing his arm. Only thing that saved him was literal cat-like reflexes. He had quickly backflipped over to where she stood.

“I have an idea,” Lady Luck said, handing her yoyo string to Chat. “Hold this and don’t move.”

“Lucky…” Chat warned.

Cautiously, she approached the tyrannosaurus. It was watching her. One step closer, and it lunged toward her.

Lady Luck was faster, stepping just out of reach and reaching for the spray can. Her free hand grabbing her shirt to protect her own nose and mouth, she sprayed the can directly in the Akuma’s face. Ocean Breeze air freshener it is then!

Naturally the Akuma began coughing and wheezing. Which left Lady Luck free to slip by and snap its bracelet. She snatched up the Butterfly as soon as it was out.

“See you around, little Butterfly.”

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

Animan was returned to a zookeeper that had been on duty. Lady Luck was pretty sure she saw Alya talking to him earlier. The Magic seemed to return all the animals to the zoo as well. Good thing she didn’t put those three in a cage!

Thankfully, the wave of Magic also dispelled the spray. Good. She actually felt a little bad spraying that. Sure, it was necessary and the guy did turn into a literal dinosaur. But she knew too much about smells that made you gag and feel like you were choking, even without being sprayed directly in the mouth.

“What happened to me?” The zookeeper groaned.

“Akumatized over a teenager yelling at a panther,” Lady Luck shrugged. “It’s fine now. You should probably get back to the zoo!”

With that, Chat dragged her off. They barely managed to make it to the zoo before their transformations ran out. Tikki and Plagg hid again, after grabbing their snacks of course. Meanwhile, Chloé and Adrien wandered around trying to find the other three.

Finally they found them. Marinette was sitting worriedly on one side of a picnic table while Alya and Nino sat on the other side, lost in their own conversation.

As soon as Marinette caught sight of them, she was nearly tackling Adrien. Alya and Nino hadn't noticed at all. Seems Chloé was right about them being into each other.

“I’m glad you’re okay!” Marinette said. “You disappeared when we were running and then you didn’t reappear when the Miraculous Cure swept through and I thought maybe it somehow didn’t work and-“

“I’m fine,” Adrien said, gently calming her down. “I just, uh, tripped when we were chasing Alya. Then a giraffe started chasing me the other direction. I hid out in the bathrooms until I heard things go back to normal.”

“I’m fine too, by the way,” Chloé shrugged.

“I… honestly didn’t know you were here,” Marinette said.

“Only have eyes for me?” Adrien teased.

“I meant it literally,” she frowned. “When did you show up.”

“I was hanging with those two before the animals showed up,” Chloé said, gesturing to Alya and Nino who were still lost in conversation. “The animals didn’t bother me because I was in a tree.”

“Why were you in a tree?” she asked.

“Didn’t want mud on my pants,” she shrugged.

Marinette looked like she was about to say something else, but shook her head instead. Good. Alya had finally noticed her, and Chloé didn’t feel like explaining that she blew the whole ‘Operation Adrienette’.

“Hey!” Alya said. “Did you two get any info on the Akuma?”

“Kim pissed off a zookeeper,” Adrien said.

For some reason, Alya’s face turned pale at that.

“Wh-which zookeeper?” Alya asked.

“That one from earlier,” Chloé said. “You were talking to him when I first showed up.”

She somehow turned paler before swearing and bolting. Leaving three of the group blinking at the spot she just was, and Marinette giving a worried look after her.

“What was up with that?” Adrien asked.

“That zookeeper was probably her dad,” Marinette sighed. “I hope Otis is okay.”

“Lady Luck saved the day, so he’s probably just a bit shaken,” Nino said.

“Are you sure?” she wondered. “I mean, I don’t know what it’s like to be, you know. Akumatized.”

Nino sighed, taking his hat off to run a hand through his hair. Chloé had to admit, this wasn’t something she really thought about.

“It’s not fun,” Nino admitted. “One minute you’re pissed about something, the next you’re on the other side of the city with a pair of Heroes standing over you. You don’t remember much. Maybe flashes in a dream sometimes. Worst part… the worst is the guilt. Even if you know you weren’t in control, it still feels like you did whatever the Akuma did.”

“I already said I was ready to throw hands with Hawkmoth over his Akuma designs,” Marinette glared. “But now I’m kicking his ass twice!”

“Same here,” Adrien growled.

Though Chloé didn’t voice it, she felt the same. Stopping the Akumas and eventually stopping Hawkmoth was her job. But what could she really do about this sort of aftermath? Maybe look into setting up a support group.

Damn it. She was really starting to get attached to these idiots.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't clear, the DJWifi ship is sailing! The SS Adrienette is... still being built. 
> 
> I wanted to work in a line about how they started talking to distract Marinette from asking why they had been hiding in a bush but oh well.


	17. Reflekta

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I just like making Lucky Charm something completely inconvenient to get rid of post-battle. 
> 
> Also featuring a slight callback to TOWCK but you know how it be.

“You okay there?” Alix asked.

“Yeah, just eavesdropping on ‘photo curses’,” Chloé said. “Why?”

“Because you’re glaring at everyone,” she said.

With a sheepish look, Chloé gestured downward toward her new shoes. They were a black pair of heels. Not too high of a heel, but switching from flats to a heel was… not fun.

“If it’s that bad we can call the hotel staff,” Sabrina said. “I’m sure one of them would be able to deliver a different pair.”

“I’m not chickening out of this,” Chloé huffed.

“I might be the reigning champion of not chickening out,” Alix said, “But I think you should get different shoes. What would you even be chickening out of, anyway?”

“I…”she sighed. “Those flats I was wearing were.. a gift. From someone special. I kept wearing them out of stubbornness. But I wanted something new to go with the new outfit. I knew I’d go back to wearing them if I brought them with me, so they’re at home.”

Alix nodded, seeming to get it. Probably noticing how Chloé’s eyes flicked to Adrien to make sure he didn’t hear her.

Before the conversation could continue, their class was called. Time to pose for a class picture.

Usually Chloé wouldn’t have cared, but Adrien’s enthusiasm was contagious. He got so excited over all the mundane things kids did in school. And damn it, even if she had to suffer these shoes, she was making this happen for him.

“Okay, time to flash your pearly whites!” the photographer, Vincent, said. “You kids, take a seat on the front bench. Quickly please! I’ve got sixteen other classes to shoot!”

“Have fun out there, shortstack,” Chloé grinned as Alix was shepherded off.

Alix stuck her tongue out at her, but grinned. And… okay. Why did that make Chloé’s heart flutter? Fuck. Now was not the time to think about that! She did not need to look like a tomato in a class picture!

“Next row,” Vincent mused. “You, you, you and you, go stand on the rear bench, please!”

Chloé opened her mouth to protest. After all, she should be with Adrien! It was his first class picture and they were close enough to the same height!

Except… they weren’t, were they? Chloé felt herself instinctively interlock her arm with Adrien’s as she realized just how big of a gap they had. Even in these heels, he was still so much taller than her now.

When had that happened? She knew he had begun to be a little taller than her but… this tall?

“Hurry up and take your place,” Vincent said, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Or I’ll put you up front with ‘shortstack’.”

Reluctantly, Chloé complied. The rest of the class was told to stand in the middle row.

“It’s no big deal, Chloé,” Adrien smiled at her. “As long as we’re in the same photo, right?”

That wasn’t her problem right now. Though she would like if she could stand a little closer to him. Right now she was still focusing on how she hadn’t noticed when he got so tall.

“Excuse me, sir!” Marinette spoke up. “You forgot Juleka!”

“Huh?” Vincent said, before looking over. “Oh. Sorry, my bad. Go stand in the middle row next to Adrien.”

After that, Chloé mostly let her mind blank out. She wasn’t surprised that Vincent was being a bit persnickety about the arrangement, continuously moving Ivan around. Adrien said the man was usually pretty all over the place at photoshoots. At least he wasn’t shouting spaghetti metaphors at them.

Still, Chloé was quickly growing tired. The heels were a really bad idea. Especially with all this shuffling around. She was going to go to the hotel’s spa for a foot massage after this. Then go pick a different pair of shoes. Maybe those boots would be better? They were less of a heel. More like what Lady Luck had.

Finally Vincent seemed to get an arrangement he liked. But by then his camera was out of batteries. Chloé muttered something about incompetent idiots, flexing her feet to take a little bit of the pain away.

“Okay, last time!” Vincent said. “Say ‘spaghetti’!”

“Spaghet-!”

All at once, Chloé’s world lurched sideways. She grabbed onto something as she went down. Someone, she realized, as a few people went down with her. There was pain in several spots, but mostly her ankle.

Whoever she had landed on top of quickly got out from under her. She didn’t know who was where. Still filled with shock and adrenaline and very dizzy, she noticed people hovering over her. Adrien and Sabrina were first. Alix jumped over the bench. Mylene had come around too, kneeling down to check on her. Miss Bustier gently moved them aside to begin asking her questions.

“I’m fine,” Chloé said, wincing as she sat up. “What happened?”

“Heels while standing on a bench was a bad idea,” Sabrina said.

fe Sure enough, she held up one of the shoes that came off when Chloé fell. The heel was snapped. Great.

“Okay,” Chloé sighed. “Sabrina, go ahead with the shoe order. The rest of you, back up so I can get up!”

Everyone did as she asked, quickly taking a step back. Chloé used the bench to pull herself up, but faltered putting weight on her left foot. And everyone surged forward again.

“I’m fine,” Chloé insisted, sitting on the bench.

They gave her a look, not believing her. In truth, she was more fine than she should be. Her adventures as Lady Luck had given her a higher pain tolerance. After all, being thrown into a wall or crushed by a rock monster still hurts, even with a Magic Suit to protect her.

Still, though her ankle wasn’t the worst pain, maybe a three out of ten, this still sucked.

“You should go to the nurse,” Miss Bustier mused. “Kim, can you-“

“I’ll take her!” Alix interrupted.

Though Miss Bustier seemed confused, Kim seemed a bit thankful that he didn’t have to do it. Which made Chloé feel a little guilty for rejecting him back on Valentine’s Day. Though they'd never been particularly close, things were now really awkward whenever they interacted.

She reluctantly let Alix help her limp back to the main building, face burning in embarrassment as the remaining classmembers watched with worry. As she tried to give a reassuring smile to tell them she was fine, Chloé noticed four classmates were missing.

Weird. She tried to think of why someone would run off. Maybe her fall had scared them so much they had to rush to the bathroom? And the other three followed after to check on her?

Oh well. Not her problem. She was just going to let Alix drag her to the nurse. Thankfully, her office was in the nearest hall. However, it seemed like the nurse was out to lunch.

“Ugh,” Chloé groaned. “We can’t just wait. I’m pretty sure we need to get back to the photo.”

“Knowing Damocles?” Alix scoffed, helping her to one of the seats. “He’s probably worried about how he’s paying the photographer by the hour.”

She couldn’t argue with that. Nothing got the principal hopping like money. Except perhaps the school’s reputation.

“What are you doing?” Chloé asked.

“Writing a note,” Alix said, scribbling something on paper. “I might not be a nurse but I’ve had ankle and wrist injuries before. We should get some bandages on you quick instead of waiting.”

“Think the nurse will be upset you did that?” she wondered.

“Nah,” she shrugged. “Kim and I end up in here all the time for stupid things. She trusts me enough to grab a few bandages. And the cabinet with real medicine is locked.”

After finishing the note, Alix went to one of the cabinets and pulled out a roll of ace bandages. She then dropped to the floor, and began gingerly poking at Chloé’s ankle.

“Good news,” Alix said. “Pretty sure it’s not sprained. You’re going to want to rest it for a while. Use the bandage or an ankle brace if you’re walking around. At home try and elevate it.”

This was a pain. Literally. Even with her heightened pain tolerance, Chloé wasn’t used to those injuries being long-term. Thank fuck for the Miraculous Cure. Maybe she’d get lucky and the next time she uses that it’ll fix her ankle too.

That thought apparently jinxed it, because screams could be heard from the hall outside. Fuck.

“What’s your bet?” Alix sighed. “Kid upset they have a bad hair day for school pictures?”

“My money’s on Vincent,” Chloé said. “He’s probably pissed that a professional photographer who works for the Agreste Brand is having to deal with a bunch of teenagers for class picture day.”

“Fair,” she nodded. “I’m just going to go check whether it’s actually an Akuma or just a tantrum.”

As soon as she was out the door, Tikki flew into view. The small Kwami was also examining Chloé’s ankle, gently tapping it with her paw.

“Can I fight like this?” Chloé asked. “Or should I text Adrien that he’s on his own.”

“You’ll be okay,” Tikki said. “Much like with that cold you had, the Transformation will suppress the pain. It won’t be perfect, so try not to run around the city or do any crazy leaps.”

“I don’t think that’ll happen the way you want it to,” she sighed.

“I can try and ask you to take care of yourself,” Tikki pouted.

“Tikki, Spots On!”

Sure enough, Lady Luck’s ankle felt a little better. At least enough to make it out into the courtyard. She looked to see what they were dealing with and.... well… she sure hoped that Akuma wasn’t Vincent.

The Akuma was wearing hot pink everywhere. Shiny hair in twisted ponytails that stick straight up. A pink dress with a ruffle collar. Pink eyeshadow on a white face. One of the few things not pink was the eye-like pattern around her dress and hair.

As she floated around the school, she hit people with a beam that originated from her right hand. Anyone who got hit was turned into a replica of her. Great. That wasn’t going to get confusing at all!

Before Lady Luck could go out and announce her presence, something pulled her back. It was one of the many replicas. Or at least she hoped this was a replica.

“Glad I spotted you first!” Adrien’s voice came out of the replica.

“Ugh,” Lady Luck groaned. “I don’t know what’s worse! Your puns or your voice coming out of that thing! Seriously Adr-“

“Chat!” he cut her off. “I, uh, I got hit after I transformed. I’ll probably turn back to ‘Chat’ when you fix this! Just refer to me as that name.”

“Right,” she nodded. “Anything else you’ve found out?”

“She calls herself Reflekta,” Chat said, still unnerving to hear coming from that face. “It’s Juleka. She’s upset that the picture got ruined because she kinda has this… photo curse or something? Mari was talking about it earlier.”

“Great,” she groaned. “This is going to be another thing I have to apologize for even though it’s totally not my fault, right?”

“Well, maybe at least explain?” he suggested. “She ran off because she thought you had purposely pushed her out of the way to be in the center of the picture with me so…”

“Of course,” she groaned again. “I’m such a total bitch that me nearly dying because of a broken heel is just another bitchy ploy. Can’t even blame her because at some point I probably would’ve tried to force my way into us being together for the picture.”

“On the bright side,” he said, giving a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “she’s after ‘Chloé’, so she’ll probably stay here until she finds ‘her’.”

Great. Thinking on the potential plan, Lady Luck flexed her ankle. It might be easier to walk, but Tikki’s suggestion of taking it easy was probably a good idea. It’d be better if this was over quickly

“Lucky Charm!”

Despite the look Chat gave her for using it so soon, Lady Luck felt confident that she could work around it. At worst, if she couldn’t think of a plan, she hadn’t been seen yet and could go recharge and try again.

That confidence dropped a little as she found herself holding a set of handcuffs.

“And you kinkshame me,” Chat said, raising an eyebrow.

“Leather catsuit,” Lady Luck shot back.

Looking out again, she saw Reflekta still zapping people. She was quickly running out of potential victims though. Watching a few braver students throw items at her showed that the beam from the jewel would knock it away. Which means the yoyo wouldn’t be a good option.

And Lady Luck didn’t want to know what would happen if she couldn’t use her powers. She really didn’t want to be stuck like… that…. For all eternity. Especially considering those platform heels. Her ankle started throbbing just looking at those monstrosities.

“Here’s an idea,” Lady Luck said, giving Chat the handcuffs. “You already got hit, so you’re basically immune, right? Try and grab her long enough to use these. If you can get that jewel off her hand better.”

“And you?” he asked.

“Once she can’t deflect my yoyo, I can keep her from running,” she said.

“Okay,” he said. “And what if she tries to hide in the other Reflektas?”

“I…” she frowned at that. “Keep her attention.”

Chat leaped back into the fight. As best he could in those heels. God those should be illegal.

As the fight became physical, Lady Luck kept an eye on them. Reflekta didn’t use her beam attack after the first time, having realized Chat couldn’t be hit twice and it wasn’t strong enough to push back a whole person. So they went for exchanging blows instead.

Yet even as they moved around, Lady Luck never lost track of which was which. Odd. She wasn’t close enough to see their expressions, so she couldn’t tell by Chat’s grin. And even the handcuffs blended into the hot pink enough that she wasn’t sure where Chat had them.

Wait. It wasn’t visual. It was a feeling. The Aura Sense. Both ‘felt’ so different. But she hadn’t activated it, had she? Maybe it was more of a passive ability when transformed? If so, then was this a sign she was getting more powerful? Maybe. She had been using plenty of Magic since gaining the Miraculous.

Focusing back to the fight, she watched as Reflekta bucked Chat off of her, but struggled to get her hands out from behind her back. Good. The handcuffs worked.

Though they should be pretty indestructible, Lady Luck didn’t waste any time throwing her yoyo. The weapon startled students as it flew past them, eventually wrapping around Reflekta.

“You don’t look happy to see me,” Lady Luck said.

“You won’t last long,” Relekta said, struggling against both yoyo and handcuffs. “Soon, you’ll look like me too!”

Reflekta turned just enough that her hand was pointed at Lady Luck. The Hero ducked, as a beam went flying over her head. Thoroughly annoyed, she yanked the yoyo sting and brought Reflekta crashing down.

Reflekta kept blasting, hitting at random as she attempted to angle her hand in a way to hit Lady Luck.

“Anytime now Chat!” Lady Luck shouted, ducking behind the stairs.

Thankfully Chat did step in, ignoring the blasts. He tugged the jewel from Reflekta’s hand and smashed it against the ground. Lady Luck tugged the yoyo again, pulling Reflekta up before tugging once more and having the yoyo retract. Another throw and that Butterfly was hers.

“See you around little Butterfly.”

As the white Butterfly flew away, Lady Luck walked over. Chat seemed to be having trouble getting the Lucky Charm back.

“You okay there, kitten?” Lady Luck asked. “Manicure getting in the way?

“Lucky Charm didn’t happen to give you handcuff keys, did it?” Chat asked.

No. No it did not. That’s inconvenient.

“Anyone know how to pick locks?” Chat asked.

“Anything I could use was in my purse,” A Marinette-voiced Reflekta said. “Which is gone now.”

“I usually carry handcuff keys in my wallet,” A Sabrina-voiced Reflekta said. “But that’s gone too.”

Muttering swears, Lady Luck looked at Reflekta. The Akuma was currently pouting. Interesting.

“How are you doing?” Lady Luck asked.

“I just wanted to be seen,” Reflekta said. “No one ever hears me. Or sees me. I’m invisible. Even in photos.”

“Well, I know a way to make you pretty visible,” she replied. “You ready?”

Not actually waiting for a response, Lady Luck bent down and picked her up. Reflekta let out a startled squeak, suddenly finding herself carried princess-style. The extra weight was not good on her ankle, but oh well.

Preparing herself, Lady Luck tossed Reflekta in the air like she was pizza dough.

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

The wave of Magic began changing everyone back to normal, and it was Juleka who dropped back into Lady Luck’s arms. Yep. Definitely not good for the ankle.

“Where….?” Juleka trailed off, realizing she was in a Hero’s arms. “Uh… hi?”

“Smile, you’re on candid camera,” Lady Luck said, nodding toward the crowd.

Sure enough, a few people had already brought their phones out. Including Alya, who was likely streaming. Juleka gave a hesitant wave, blushing hard.

The girl jumped a little when Lady Luck’s earring beeped loudly. Putting her down, Lady Luck smiled to the camera.

“Sorry to save the day and run,” Lady Luck grinned. “But I do have to get back to my own class. Lady Luck, signing off!”

As quickly as she could without further hurting her ankle, Lady Luck went back into the building. Chat ran interference, making sure no one followed her.

Though he couldn’t keep people in the building from coming down the hallway. The school nurse was back from her lunch break, coming back to her office. Lady Luck hoped she could slip in unnoticed, but that thought died as the woman looked up from her papers at her. Damn.

Quickly going inside, Lady Luck closed the door and went to the window, pushing it open. She managed to go back to the seat Alix had left her in and detransform just as the nurse turned the doorknob.

“What….” The nurse began, staring at her.

“Did you see Lady Luck sprint in here?” Chloé asked. “She barely even acknowledged me! Just waved and jumped out the window! Pretty rude for a Hero.”

The nurse shook her head, but seemed to buy that. Or at least decided not to question it.

* * *

It took a while for the nurse to get done checking Chloé out. She had agreed with Alix’s assessment that her ankle was just minorly injured, not fully sprained, but she should still rest it. The longest part was filling out the incident report and calling Chloé’s dad to inform him.

Well. Technically the longest part was Chloé assuring her dad that she did not need a hospital, or to come home right away. And no, he did not need to sue the photographer or the school for putting her in that heel/bench situation in the first place.

By the time Chloé limped back to the courtyard, there was an argument going on between Vincent and Principal Damocles. And for some reason Marinette looked a little guilty about it.

“What’s happening?” Chloé asked.

“Oh, glad you’re back!” Sabrina said. “They’re arguing because some of Vincent’s photos from before the Akuma got erased. He’s mad because he’s already had to cancel his next shoot thanks to the Akuma making him go overtime here, and now Damocles wants him to redo the ones that got deleted because ‘Magic interference shouldn’t affect your contract’.”

Giving a thoughtful frown, Chloé wondered about that. If Reflekta erased the photos, Miraculous Cure would’ve restored it. And Miraculous Cure isn’t usually the kind of thing that would erase photos, even if one is disastrous.

Another look at a fidgety Marinette, and Chloé began to wonder if it really was ‘Magic interference’. The girl did mention something about picking locks when she’d asked.

Forcing her gaze away from that trainwreck, Chloé saw Rose and Juleka off on their own. Juleka was smiling, looking at her phone. Probably the photos taken of her and Lady Luck.

Despite not wanting to ruin the moment, Chloé made her way over to them. It almost mirrored her talk with Mylene and Ivan, with Rose standing protectively in front of Juleka. Though Chloé had yet to see Rose truly angry, she did not want to push her luck.

“Before you say anything,” Chloé said, “I’m not here to be a jerk. I know I’ve been a jerk for literally years and you’ve come to expect that, so I’m not mad when you assume it. So, like, sorry for that and let me explain.”

That threw them off guard enough. Rose’s stance relaxed a little, just out of pure confusion. So far so good.

“I wasn’t trying to push you out of the photo,” Chloé said. “I was standing on the bench when the heel of my shoe went through the slats and broke. So I fell. Still… sorry I guess? I’m new at apologizing and I still don’t entirely understand apologizing for something that’s not my fault but-“

“Are you okay?” Rose asked. “I was so worried about Juleka I didn’t really think about how hard that fall must’ve been!”

“I- uh, I’m a little bruised,” she admitted. “Alix took me to the nurse because of my ankle, which is the worst. And my shoes are broken so I get to walk around barefoot which is just. So gross!”

“I’m sorry,” Juleka said. “I thought…”

“I know, and I get it,” she sighed. “At some point I probably would’ve done that kind of thing. Or worse. This time was just a stupid shoe choice. Again, still don’t understand apologies, but sorry because I didn’t mean to ruin the picture?”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Rose asked. “You’re apologizing.”

“You’ve been doing that a bit lately,” Juleka mused.

“I’m trying to be less of a bitch?” Chloé shrugged. “I’m not good at it. I mean, this, and yelling at Mylene that day she got Akumatized, and just in general not understanding some things because I was not taught to be ‘nice’ by really anyone until somewhat recently. Like, how the hell am I supposed to-

“Remember to breathe,” she said.

“Right,” she swallowed. “Point is, I’m trying to be less of a total bitch. And it’s not always working but at least I’m trying to apologize when I upset someone?”

“That is a lot better,” Rose said. “I’m sorry for assuming it was just another… well. If we’d known you were trying to be nicer, we probably wouldn’t have assumed.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone though?” Juleka wondered. “If you decided to turn over a new leaf, wouldn’t it make sense to, you know. Announce it so people can help you?”

“A person is smart,” Chloé said. “People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it.” 

“What does that mean?” Rose wondered, tilting her head in confusion.

“Did you just quote Men in Black?” Juleka asked.

“Unfortunately,” she groaned. “Damn it Adrien. Point is, that if I stood up in front of the class and made a big deal about trying to be nice, everyone would get very suspicious and everything I do would be overanalyzed and harshly criticized as ‘proof that I’m not changing’. If I just, you know. Attempt to be nice, apologize when I fuck up, and explain individually, then it has more of a chance of working.”

“I can’t argue with that,” Rose shrugged, a little too chipper.

“Neither can I,” Juleka agreed. “Next time something happens I’ll try and talk to see what’s going on instead of assuming.”

“Thanks, seriously,” Chloé sighed. “I’m glad to get a second chance here. Wish I could do the same with… Actually, I think I have an idea.”

Grabbing Juleka’s hand, she began to drag the girl across the courtyard. Juleka grabbed Rose, creating a short conga-line behind Chloé.

She marched over to Vincent, who had just finished his conversation with Damocles. He seemed pissed, probably because Damocles was making him redo the photos.

“Hey, Vincent, can I talk to you for a minute?” Chloé called.

“Oh, you’re that kid from earlier,” Vincint said, his glare softening to a more apologetic expression. “Sorry about your fall. Didn’t even think about how bad of a combination heels and benches were.”

“Totally fine,” she said. “In fact, since that fall technically caused the Akuma that made your pictures disappear, let me make it up to both you and my- um....”

“Friends,” Rose nodded.

“My friends here,” she said. “Anyway, I can pay you for the overtime you have to work re-taking our class photos, and to make up for the canceled appointment you were supposed to have after this, I'd like to book a photoshoot of our class featuring my friend here.”

Chloé pulled Juleka forward. The girl looked a little too much like a deer in the headlights, but thankfully in a good way. Honestly, now that Chloé was actually looking at Juleka, she realized the girl probably could kill it as a model. Tall and beautiful.

“By ‘make it up’ I assume you plan to pay,” Vincent said. “I can offer a discount since I got you hurt and your friend got Akumatized, but photoshoots are still more expensive than you’re expecting.

“Don’t worry,” Chloé grinned. “Do you know who my dad is?”

“Is he a photographer too?” he wondered. “I could use an assistant.”

“No,” she said. “But he Mayor Bourgeois. Even if my personal funds were low, which they totally aren’t by the way, I would be able to convince him to pay the rest. And if you don’t believe me, then you will believe Adrien. He can assure you that I’m telling the truth.”

That threw him off guard. But he did seem to give a smile filled with surprising respect. Chloé offered to shake his hand, and a deal was made.

* * *

Their class had spent the entire afternoon in the park, taking all sorts of fun photos. Though half of them had no idea how this had been set up.

Some shots were more formal. Half sitting on a park bench with the other half standing. Thankfully no standing on the park bench in heels this time.

Others were goofier shots. Making faces, teasing each other. Silly poses. Fake sword fights with fallen branches they found. Adrien even did a few mocking his usual photoshoots, which Vincent had gotten a kick out of as he took the shot.

Half of them had ended up falling in the fountain during one shot. They all thanked Sabrina for suggesting they put their phones somewhere else ‘just in case’.

Juleka was in most of the photos. After all, the shoot was mostly for her. Seems like whatever 'curse' she had was gone now. 

Though it would be a few days before the pictures were printed and delivered, Vincent did email copies to both Chloé and Juleka. It was now late at night, and Chloé sat on her bed, still scrolling through the photos.

Tikki was flying around, exploring a new arrival: a dollhouse. With functional doll furniture perfectly sized for the Kwami. Much better than just letting Tikki fall asleep on one of the many pillows

Finally tiring of checking out the new ‘home’, Tikki flew back over and sat on Chloé’s shoulder.

“The photos look nice!” Tikki said.

“They do,” Chloé said. “I’d offer to take some pictures of you, but…”

“I don’t show up on camera,” she nodded.

“Maybe I could find some way to commission a painting?” she wondered.

“It’s okay,” she laughed, nuzzling against Chloé’s cheek. “I’m just glad you’re happy.”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I am.”

If Chloé was being honest with herself, this afternoon was the happiest she’d been since…. Well. Quite a while.

It was nice. To be with them and not… not be like she was. No telling herself that she doesn’t want their company, and covering by saying they don’t deserve her company. No planning or overthinking or second-guessing.

Just a bunch of clas- A bunch of Friends having fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Friendship is growing and my heart can't take it!!!


	18. Princess Fragrance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I get a little salty about Rose and her perfume but I want to be clear that I do love her, I just wish she wouldn't do things that would probably kill me!

Lady Luck managed to jump into the doorway from the rooftop just before her transformation fell. Good. It was cold and rainy and gross. She didn’t want to risk going through all that and getting soaked. Especially because then people would wonder how she got soaked between lunch and chemistry class.

Handing Tikki a cookie, she paused and looked closer at the Kwami. The tiny creature was shaking and shivering. Her eyes looked dull. It was a very worrying until she sneezed. Still worrying, but not as much.

“I thought you said you couldn’t get sick,” Chloé said.

“I can’t catch Human illnesses,” Tikki replied, her voice very quiet. “I need you to take me to a doctor.”

“I assume you don’t mean a random doctor,” she said. “Would the Dragon Witch work?”

“N-no,” she said. “She knows Magic, but not all of the Kwami secrets. Though I do know another Healer who can do something.”

Well that was interesting information, wasn’t it? Chloé wondered what she could learn there.

“Okay,” Chloé nodded. “Where’s the place? I can grab an umbrella and-“

“You should go to class first,” Tikki said. “You already miss plenty for Akumas. I can last a few hours, and it’s unlikely Hawkmoth will make another Akuma before then.”

With a sigh, Chloé let Tikki hide in her jacket before heading downstairs. Days like this, Chloé couldn’t help but be pissed that Marinette had won her seat. It was petty, but a seat close to the door would make it easier to sneak in.

Instead, as soon as the door was open she was met with Ms. Mendeleiv’s scowl.

“Ah, Chloé,” Ms. Mendeleiv said. “What excuse do you have for us this time?”

“Sorry, miss,” Chloé said, pretending to act a little shy. “I, uh, well. I’m sure you remember being a teenage girl. And how things can sometimes sneak up on you?”

That got a sympathetic wince from half of the class. Ms. Mendeleiev’s expression also softened a fraction, waving for her to go to her seat. Chloé would probably still be counted late, but it wouldn’t be suspect.

Back in her seat, Chloé stared out the window instead of listening to Mendeleiev’s lecture on combustion. Seemed like the rain was letting up. Which meant that Adrien probably wouldn’t get out of that photoshoot until later. Between the rain and the Akuma, he probably wouldn’t be finished until school was over for the day.

Perhaps that was a good thing considering the…. Smell that was suddenly filling the classroom.

Chloé had always been smell-sensitive. She never shopped for perfume, bodywash, shampoo or any other scented items without being able to check the sent for herself. Some scents were so unpleasant she gagged at just a whiff.

Her senses had become sharper, after gaining her Miraculous. While that was great when it was a scent she liked, if it was a ‘bad scent’, it was all she could do to keep herself from opening the window and taking a deep breath. Adrien would’ve had it worse, as his senses are even sharper than hers. He probably would’ve run out.

“Thank you, Rose,” Ms. Mendeleiev sighed, walking to the girl in question. “But I don’t think our classroom needs extra refreshing.”

Most of the class turned to the back, seeing Rose giving such a deer-in-the-headlights look. Ms. Mendeleiev confiscated the girl’s phone and perfume before sending her to the principal’s office. By the time Rose was out and Ms. Mendeleiev was back at her desk, the smell had dissipated a bit.

“Now,” Ms. Mendeleiev said. “Watch what happens when you play about with flammable substances in a chemistry lab!”

The teacher spritzed some perfume into a glass containter, which started another round of gagging at the smell. She then upturned the container on the burner, before hitting the button. A small explosion happened within the glass, making everyone jump.

“Just to make sure you all remember that,” Ms. Mendeleiev said. “I’ll be quizzing you tomorrow on lab safety. Again!”

“Lab safety isn’t the only issue with spraying perfume in a classroom,” Chloè said, still gagging from the second spray.

“That… is true,” the teacher replied, looking a little sheepish. “Another reason to not spray perfumes in areas like a classroom is the health hazard. People with asthma or various smell sensitivities can be affected. Sorry.”

She went back to her lecture, and Chloé went back to staring out the window.

* * *

Predictably, Adrien didn’t make it back on time. He had tried, but sprinted to the front of the school just as everyone was getting out.

Though Chloé had every intent on going to that ‘Healer’ Tikki mentioned as soon as she could, she paused at the front steps of the school. The car was here to pick her up. Why? Usually that only happens when she requests it, which she hadn’t, or if there was something scheduled.

“Sabrina?” Chloé addressed. “Is something scheduled today?”

“Yes,” Sabrina said, giving her a look. “Prince Ali is stopping by the hotel to check in before going to a toy drive at the children’s hospital. Your dad wanted you there to greet him.”

Chloé swore under her breath. She’d totally forgotten about Prince Ali. That was throwing a wrench in the plan. She couldn’t blow off Ali, but she couldn’t not heal Tikki. She’d have to do something. 

Okay. Tikki was priority, because without her Lady Luck can’t fight. So she’d go to the Healer. Then she’d stop by a toy shop and grab a bunch of stuff to donate for the drive to placate everyone. It’d be a hell of a time crunch but it should work if she goes right now!

“I have something to do real quick,” Chloé said. “How about you go to the hotel ahead of me and tell them I’ll be late?”

“Where are you going?” Sabrina asked.

“It’s a secret?” she said.

Wrong thing to say. Chloé knew that Sabrina was getting frustrated with secrets and half-assed explanations. But just telling her that was out of the question! Tikki would get mad at her for just spilling her identity like that.

“Okay, not a super secret,” Chloé said, thinking up a half-truth. “I completely forgot Prince Ali was coming so I wanted to swing by a toy shop to help his charity before I show up!”

“But you don’t want me with you when shopping?” Sabrina asked.

“Well, I might get a surprise gift too!” she said. “Besides, someone needs to tell my dad that I’ll be late! We both know that he never checks his messages. Especially if he’s to focused on Prince Ali’s arrival! Anyway, I really need to go if I want to get to the store and back before then so… bye!”

She began to zip off, only for Rose to grab her arm. That perfume smell was still all over her, but thankfully not strong enough to make her gag.

“D-did I hear you say Prince Ali?” Rose asked.

“He’s staying at my dad’s hotel,” Chloé shrugged. “The only hotel fit for a prince!”

“Oh!” she grinned. “Could you-“

“Look,” she sighed. “I’m running on very little time and I need to go right now. So whatever it is, later, okay?”

As rude as it was, Chloé did not want to waste time here. She’d apologize properly later. That was. That was okay, right? How it works when you have to do something that upsets someone? You apologize.

Maybe she was learning!

* * *

The place Tikki had lead her to was a massage shop, just a few stores down from L'Enchantment Royale. It was also even more unassuming than that shop too.

Once she’d gone inside, the shop’s owner looked surprised to see her. He had looked less surprised to see Tikki looking sick. After introducing himself as ‘Wang Fu’, he quickly took Tikki to the back, laying the Kwami on a pillow before setting up music and getting out a gong.

“She’ll be okay soon, right?” Chloé asked.

“One who is burning with impatience can never eat hot porridge,” Fu replied.

“Well not with that attitude,” she said.

“Silence, please,” he said, putting down the gong and placing his hands over Tikki. “Reading energies. What type of cat did you say this was?”

“No idea,” she replied. “She showed up in my room one day and I decided to keep her.”

Instead of being awkward, Chloé stared him down, daring him to ask more questions. After all, if he wanted to go down this road, she had questions of her own. Seeming to take the hint, he went back to focusing on Tikki. 

Chloé isn’t an idiot. Tikki had led her here because this guy knows how to heal Kwamis. He knew exactly what Tikki was, and probably knew who she was as well. And she remembered the Dragon Witch mentioning a ‘guy in the massage shop’.

A quick scan with her Aura Sense showed more interesting information. Fu himself had quite a bit of Magic. So did that bracelet on his wrist. There was a small creature hiding behind the dresser that had energy matching that bracelet, just as Tikki matched the Earrings and Plagg matched the Ring.

The most overwhelming thing was the gramophone. At first, Chloé thought it was one incredibly bright point of Magic. A little more (metaphorical) poking and prodding showed that it was fourteen smaller, but still powerful, points of Magic. All interconnected with the other Magic in the room.

Another gong hit brought her attention back. Tikki looked a lot better, quickly flying up to nuzzle against Chloé’s cheek.

“We are finished,” Fu said. “Your cat’s health has been restored.”

“Thanks,” Chloé said, gently scratching Tikki’s head. “What do I owe you?”

“No charge for this,” he said. “I was simply doing my job.”

Chloé paused for a moment. Torn between insisting he take some kind of money, interrogating him on what he knows, or doing as he probably wanted and leaving.

“You know,” Fu said. “Cell service in this area is not the best. I have a feeling people might be looking for you.”

That was a subtle hint to leave. Resigning to it, she got up and said goodbye, reining in the urge to ask a million questions. Instead, she walked down the street and smiled at the Kwami hiding in her jacket collar.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Chloé said.

“I told you I’d be fine,” Tikki said.

“I know,” She sighed. “But I was… worried. Because I didn’t know how to fix it. And if something happened to you I-“

She was cut off by the sound of her phone practically exploding. Seems like Fu was right about the cell signal. As soon as she passed L'Enchantment Royale, her phone got signal again and got every notification at once.

Which included several texts from Sabrina wondering where she was. Even more from Adrien. And an Akuma Alert. Great. She ducked into an alleyway before pulling up the news sites.

“Maybe I was wrong about waiting,” Tikki frowned.

“Oh well,” Chloé shrugged. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with before we go in guns blazing.”

Akuma seemed to call herself ‘Princess Fragrance’. Which meant Chloé was probably going to have trouble breathing. On top of that, if she hit you with her perfume gun, you would be under her spell and, ugh. Sing.

Looking closer at one of the pictures of the Akuma, she found a familiar face.

“Damn it Rose,” Chloé sighed. “This was probably my fault again, wasn’t it?”

“You didn’t do anything?” Tikki said. “Not that I remember at least.”

“She wanted to talk to me about something or other,” she said. “I was more worried about you and just… ignored her really.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s ‘your fault’, exactly,” she said. “But you should see what she wants after this.”

Nodding, Chloé called for her transformation before climbing up to the rooftops.

Lady Luck tried to think of a plan as she ran. Princess Fragrance's powers were going to be difficult to dodge. Even if she didn't get hit directly, smelling that perfume might still affect her. In the mind control sense, though being unable to fight through gagging was also bad. 

Maybe Lucky Charm would give her something. But it was unpredictable. 

She scanned shops on the street below, hoping for an idea. Flower shop? Taping flowers to her face was probably not effective. A clothing shop? Maybe a scarf over her face? But that didn't usually keep much out. A hardware store? 

That… might work. She remembered conversations with Alix about spraypaint, and how looking for Tikki-sized doll furniture had led her down a rabbit hole of doll customizing. 

She threw her yoyo to the opposite roof, swinging down. Though she had intended to land in front of the shop, she had miscalculated a little and ended up sliding through the open doors and scaring the hell out of a cashier. 

"Hey!" Lady Luck. "Where's your respirator masks? Strongest you've got!"

Still in shock, the cashier stammered out an aisle number. Lady Luck bolted down the shelves, reading off the details about masks before grabbing two that looked good. She then sprinted back to the cashier before remembering one detail. 

"Damn it," Lady Luck groaned. "I can't access my wallet like this. Okay, maybe if I detransform and run to an atm I can-"

"Don't worry about it," the cashier said, finally snapping back to reality. "Helping a superhero is worth the potential of pissing off my boss."

Lady Luck blinked at that. Was he really going to let her steal things just because she was a superhero? Good thing she wasn't the kind to take advantage of that. 

"I'll make sure it's paid for later," Lady Luck said, before grabbing a notepad and pen off the counter. "And if your boss gives you a hard time, call this number and they'll handle it."

Another quick thank you, and Lady Luck ran out and used her yoyo to get to the other roof. It took her a moment to get the thing set up and strapped to her face. Which was an uncomfortable sensation on its own, but should keep her safe. 

She then prepped the second mask, making sure she could just hand it off to Chat when she got there. 

Before heading off, she checked the news sites again. Seemed that Princess Fragrance had moved to the Pont des Arts. To… marry Prince Ali? Rose you have a girlfriend you idiot!

However, cheating implications aside, there was something that made her blood run cold. 

Along with Prince Ali and his bodyguard, the mayor, Sabrina, and Chat Noir were all under Princess Fragrance's spell. All of that terrified her. But the fact that Chat was influenced…. If Princess Fragrance ordered him to hand over his Miraculous….

As Lady Luck took off toward the bridge, she wondered why that hadn't happened. Wouldn't that be the first thing an Akuma would make him do? 

Perhaps… Lady Luck had wondered before how much influence Hawkmoth had over his Akumas. Rose wouldn't want to out Chat, but in her crazed state marrying a prince was quite a dream. Perhaps she could use that. 

Lady Luck arrived at the Pont des Arts just in time to see the mayor ‘walk Princess Fragrance down the aisle’. Which was so many levels of weird. Chat was holding some kind of Padlock, radiating perfume. 

Whatever that was, it can’t be good. Lady Luck hit it with her yoyo, knocking it into the Seine. An enraged Princess Fragrance began blasting with her perfume gun. As perfume, the ‘impact’ felt like a small jet of air that did little to throw her off balance. Thankfully the respirator mask held. 

“Rose what the fuck,” Lady Luck deadpanned. “You have a girlfriend.”

“Ali is on the freebie list,” Princess Fragrance replied. “Servants, attack!”

While everyone else jumped at her, Princess Fragrance grabbed Ali and flew off. It was easy to dispatch Sabrina and the mayor. And while Ali’s bodyguard had some more skill, a punch-resistant hero with a yoyo wasn’t something she was used to.

Chat, on the other hand, was. It seemed like this mind control didn’t make them puppets, they just followed orders. Skill was intact, including Chat’s experience with how Lady Luck moved. 

Hoping it would work, Lady Luck unhooked the second respirator mask from her belt. She then got in close, and shoved it onto Chat’s face, barely managing to clip it in a way that made it stay on. 

A few moments passed as she deflected blows before Chat seemed to come around. 

“What… happened?” Chat asked. 

“Princess Fragrance’s mind control,” Lady Luck said, walking over to make sure the mask was fully clipped on. “I figured that since it works by breathing in her toxic fumes, that it’s probably maintained by the smell on your clothes and hair. Block the smell, and you’ll come back.”

“That’s… really smart,” he replied. 

“If there’s one thing I know, it’s about smells that stick with you,” she said. “Now we just have to, uh…”

She trailed off as she saw the hotel in the distance, with a large cloud of perfume around it. That can’t be good. It seemed like a good time for some help. 

“Lucky Charm!”

The item that dropped into her hands was a red and black spotted bunsen burner. Which was confusing until she remembered class earlier. Miss Mendeleiev using one on Rose’s perfume. 

“Is Tikki really telling me to blow things up?” Lady Luck wondered. “Because all I can think is ‘set things on fire’!”

“Time to become a pyromaniac!” Chat said, a little too excited about that idea. “You know, there’s a boat full of fireworks coming down the Seine! Even if we can’t figure out the controls, a Cataclysm should do the job.” 

“Oddly convenient,” she mused. “But dangerous. That could get out of control real fast. Miraculous Cure might undo the damage, but…”

“But it’d be better to not cause that damage,” he agreed. “Do you have a better idea?”

“Actually, I do!” she said. “Follow me!”

Throwing her yoyo, she took off toward the hotel. But instead of going to the roof where Princess Fragrance was, she dropped on the balcony to her room. Once inside, she knew exactly where to go. 

A small jewelry box on her dresser held the Phoenix Bracelet. Chat seemed a little worried. Maybe a lot worried. 

“How is that safer?” Chat asked. 

“Magic?” Lady Luck answered. “Supposedly it only burns what I want it to. Which means us and the building will be spared!”

“If you say so, Lucky,” he said. 

Lady Luck ran back to the balcony, slipping the bracelet onto her wrist before jumping to the roof. She hadn’t really had a chance to test this, but she held her hand up and aimed it at the still-growing cloud of perfume. Then she pushed her Magic into the bracelet, and the jewels turned red. 

This blast was more powerful than the last, making Lady Luck stagger a bit. A boost from the Ladybug Miraculous, probably. The flames hit the cloud, and the whole thing ignited. 

The heat was intense, but not as intense as it should have been. Magic indeed. The flaming cloud reformed into the shape of a bird, before spiraling further into the sky and bursting. 

“You!” Princess Fragrance shouted, aiming her gun. “You ruin everything! So now I’ll ruin you!”

“How?” Lady Luck asked. “You can’t get us under control with your perfume. You could run, but we’d catch up. How long until this is over?”

Princess Fragrance glared, but with her focus on Lady Luck, she didn’t notice Chat Noir sneaking up. 

“Cataclysm!”

All Chat had to do was tap her gun, and it disintegrated into nothing. Lady Luck only smirked as she snapped up the Butterfly.

“See you around, little Butterfly.”

“Miraculous Ladybug!”

The wave of Magic went about fixing things. Thankfully it included getting rid of the rest of that perfume smell. Even without the mind control, that was nasty. Which let Lady Luck take off the respirator mask without needing to gag! 

Both Rose and Ali seemed a little confused. Though as soon as Rose saw Ali, she immediately went into ‘fangirl mode’, gushing about how wonderful he is. 

“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” Lady Luck stepped in. “But Rose, your, uh, classmate Chloé stopped me and asked me to apologize for-”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Rose said. “It wasn’t Chloé’s fault, really. She seemed in a hurry and worried when I talked to her. I can’t blame her for the things Hawkmoth did.”

“That’s fair,” Chat agreed. 

“I am… also sorry to interrupt,” Ali said. “But who are you two?”

Both Heroes frowned, looking at one another in confusion. 

“Paris’s Heroes?” Chat offered. 

“Weren’t you briefed on the situation earlier?” Lady Luck wondered. 

“No,” Ali frowned. “I haven’t heard anything about Heroes in Paris.”

“I’ll look into that,” she replied. “For now, I’ll leave you two to talk!”

With that, she and Chat jumped back off the roof. They didn’t go too far, only landing on the balcony before ducking into Chloé’s room. After all, that’s where the recharge snacks were!

* * *

Chloé had a few things to do. The first was returning to that hardware store to pay for the masks. She didn’t bother to make up an explanation, just going to withdraw cash from an atm before transforming and walking in again. 

After dealing with that and detransforming, Chloé dropped by a toy shop nearest the children’s hospital. The cashier raised her eyebrows at the girl buying a literal wagon full of toys, including an actual wagon. 

Though that was nothing compared to the expressions of the hospital staff. They were less confused once she asked where Prince Ali was. Eventually she found him, and Rose was still hanging with him. Rose also noticed her first, immediately grinning and dragging Chloé forward.

“Ali, this is my friend Chloé!” Rose said, unaware of how Chloé smiled a little brighter at that. 

“Glad to meet you,” Ali said. “Your name sounds a little familiar…”

“You probably heard the mayor mention me,” Chloé said. “He’s my dad. I was supposed to show up to welcome you to Paris, but I got a little caught up. I did bring something to make up for it.”

They both seemed to just notice the wagon full of toy donations. After a round of thanks, Ali said to just put it to the side and they could take it back to the hotel later. 

“So,” Chloé said, trying to find a conversation point. “I bet you two have had a lot to talk about.”

“Mostly just gushing about our girlfriends,” Rose admitted. 

“Rose has said several things about Juleka,” Ali said. 

“Huh,” Chloé said, ignoring a slight twinge of jealousy. “Didn’t know you were in a relationship. You’d think tabloids would be all over that.””

“Ah, yes, usually,” he said, a bit nervously. “I don’t want people to harass her, Or for any political enemies to target her. Officially, Kareem just helps me run the charity.” 

Ali pulled out his phone before showing a picture on it. A girl their age. Dark skin, warm brown eyes as she laughed, and wearing a lavender headscarf. From wrist to elbow, her arms were covered in bracelets. The kind that looked like handmade crafts, though a very high quality. 

“She’s lovely,” Chloé said. 

“By the way,” Ali said, putting his phone back in his pocket. “Since you’re the mayor’s daughter, perhaps you can answer a few questions. Rose has filled me in on Paris’s… situation with Akumas.”

“Kind of had to explain why he didn’t remember the last half hour,” Rose said sheepishly. 

“It’s alright,” he assured her. “However, I’m wondering why no one outside of Paris has seemed to have heard of this?”

“I’m wondering that too,” Chloé frowned, looking down the hall. “And I believe we’re about to get an answer.” 

Coming down the hall were Ali’s bodyguard and Chloé’s dad. While the bodyguard fussed over Ali and their schedule, Chloé walked around her to glare at her dad. He seemed to know she was mad at him for something. 

“Is there a reason Ali didn’t know about the Heroes?” Chloé asked. “Or anyone outside of Paris for that matter?”

“Well,” her dad began, swallowing nervously. “With the danger the Akumas present, it would be bad for Tourism and-”

“Tourism,” she parroted. “This is Paris! People aren’t going to stop coming because of a supervillain! It might even raise tourism with how many adrenaline junkies want to experience an Akuma first-hand! Plenty of other cities do fine with their Heroes and Villains! Look at New York!”

“It’s not just the tourism, it’s…” he trailed off. 

With a sigh, he knelt down to her. Which was rare, especially nowadays. But Chloé knew this body language. It was the ‘you’re a kid so I want to protect you by not telling you something but I have to because you’re stubborn’ bodylanguage. Which is how she knew this was important. 

“I know the Akumas so far have been… a handful,” her dad said. “You agree, right?”

“Yes,” Chloé said, not letting on how she knew that first-hand. 

“And those Akumas were only made out of people like your classmates,” he said. “How bad do you think it would be if a foregin Hero comes to offer help, but gets Akumatized?”

Oh. That… could be a problem. Especially considering what Chloé did know. Her classmates were bright points of Magic. Good for making Akumas, which was probably why so many had been localized to her classmates so far. Magic attracts Magic, after all. 

But her classmates, while Magical, had no training in Magic. Presumably. Despite that, they were still powerful Akuma. How bad would a Hero with years of training be? 

“I… see your point,” Chloé admitted. “But wouldn’t it be better to warn other Heroes? They might come to Paris for other reasons. Maybe on Hero business, maybe just for vacation as a civilian. If you warn them, they’d be prepared for the possibility and know to listen to the Local heroes if they end up in a fight.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” her dad sighed. “I would prefer to keep it from happening altogether, but you’re right that I can’t just make it go away.”

“Maybe let Lady Luck and Chat Noir decide?” she suggested. “Why didn’t you ask them what they thought would be the best choice? After all, even if it’s a risk, they might have liked to have an older Hero play mentor for a little bit.”

“That’s exactly why,” he said. “Our Heroes are so young. Every time I see them, I just imagine you out there.”

“As if I would be running around playing hero!” she laughed nervously. 

“I know you’re not her,” he said. “But still. Every time I see them fighting, I want to keep them safe.”

“I… think they’d appreciate that,” she said. “But I think they’d also appreciate being told things directly. And so would I. I’m still a kid, but I can understand the more ‘adult’ subjects if you tell me.”

“I know,” he said, hugging her close. “But it doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop trying to protect you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A rare sweet moment between Chloé and her dad. 
> 
> Also, for those who noticed: 
> 
> >:3c

**Author's Note:**

> So, while this is a rewrite of the series, not every episode will be fully rewritten. For example, while Origins will be rewritten in full, episodes like Stormy Weather and Bubbler will only have a scene or two. 
> 
> The reason for this is because it depends on how much of the episode would change because of Lady Luck. Technically everything is 'different', since Chloé would say things differently from Marinette, but I'm focusing on plot changes instead of alternate one-liners. It'll make more sense as time goes on.


End file.
